Replication rate is increased in short <i>E. coli</i> cells.

<p>(A) Average time of DNA replication (C period) is reduced by ∼25% in <i>pgm</i>::<i>kan</i> and <i>ftsA*</i> cells grown in LB-glucose (<i>left</i>) and by ∼15% when grown in AB (<i>right</i>). (B) In contrast, C period length is wild type in <i>B. subtilis pgcA</i>::<i>Tn</i>10 cells in both LB (<i>left</i>) and S7₅₀ (<i>right</i>). The period between the end of replication and division (D period) is wild type in both the <i>E. coli</i> and <i>B. subtilis</i> mutant strains (C & D). C and D period values were calculated using marker frequency analysis of qPCR data (see <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002549#s4" target="_blank">Materials and Methods</a>). Error bar corresponds to one standard deviation (n = 3). (E & F) Histograms displaying the number of foci of either single-stranded DNA binding protein fused to YPet (Ssb-YPet) in <i>E. coli</i> (E) or a GFP fusion to Tau (DnaX-GFP) in <i>B. subtilis</i> (F). Note reduced number of Ssb-YPet foci in <i>E. coli pgm</i>::<i>kan</i> and <i>ftsA*</i> mutants. Experiments were done in triplicate, assessing 220–260 cells per replicate. Error bars are one standard deviation. Population means are shown in the inset. The <i>E. coli</i> mutants had statistically fewer (p<0.001) foci/cell by chi-square analysis.