Example of a founder cell where the YFP-expressing reporter gene is silenced.

<p>The already synthesized fluorescent protein molecules are gradually diluted and degraded over the cell divisions resulting in a decrease of the total fluorescence in all sibling cells after three cycles. During this time the CFP-coding reporter gene is continuously expressed and the total fluorescence level continues to fluctuate as described before, independently of the YFP-coding gene. The color code is as on the <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0115574#pone-0115574-g003" target="_blank">Fig. 3</a>.