Functional requirements of cellular differentiation: lessons from Bacillus subtilis.

•Compartment-specific activation of σF and σE requires a threshold Spo0A activity.•Inhibition of KinA by Spo0F results in a delayed negative feedback in the network.•Gene-dosage imbalance during DNA replication triggers pulses of Spo0A activity.•Amplitudes Spo0A activity pulses are modulated by cellular growth rates.•Only cells growing slower than a threshold commit to sporulation.