Cellular dimensions profoundly influence cellular physiology. For unicellular organisms, this has direct bearing on their ecology and evolution. The morphology of a cell is governed by scaling rules. As it grows, the ratio of its surface area to volume is expected to decrease. Similarly, if environmental conditions force proliferating cells to settle on different size optima, cells of the same type may exhibit size-dependent variation in cellular processes. In fungi, algae and plants where cells are surrounded by a rigid wall, division at smaller size often produces immediate changes in geometry, decreasing cell fitness. Here, we discuss how cells interpret their size, buffer against changes in shape and, if necessary, scale their polarity to maintain optimal shape at different cell volumes.

细胞尺寸深刻影响细胞生理。对于单细胞生物，这直接关系到其生态和进化。细胞的形态受缩放规则支配。随着它的生长，其表面积与体积之比有望降低。类似地，如果环境条件迫使增殖的细胞沉降在不同的大小最优值上，则相同类型的细胞可能会在细胞过程中表现出大小依赖的变化。在真菌，藻类和植物中，细胞被坚硬的壁包围着，以较小的尺寸分裂通常会立即改变几何形状，从而降低细胞的适应性。在这里，我们讨论细胞如何解释其大小，缓冲形状的变化，以及在必要时缩放其极性以在不同细胞体积下保持最佳形状。