Scaled distribution of the number of cells of metabolic type 1 in the final population.

All distributions are for symmetric initial composition, equal yields and a large number of divisions. Different distributions in a plot are for different initial populations (Blue - , Green - , Red - ). These distributions are plotted as a function of the scaling variable (see text for details), and their shape does not depend on the number of divisions but does depend on the initial number of cells. (A) The two types have the same growth rate and are therefore equal in all their properties. Population composition varies only because individual trajectories are composed of different sequences of divisions of the two types. Because of the symmetry between types, all distributions are symmetric around . (B) The two types have different growth rates, and the distribution of final composition becomes skewed.