Amino acid substitutions in ribosomal protein RpsU enable switching between high fitness and multiple-stress resistance in Listeria monocytogenes

A previously described low-fitness, high stress-resistant, variant of Listeria monocytogenes LO28 WT was subjected to an experimental evolution regime, selecting (in two parallel lines) for increased fitness in unstressed conditions. Evolved variants with increased fitness reverted to WT-like stress resistance. Whole genome sequencing and proteomics were used to identify differences between the ancestral and evolved strains.