Phenotypic Convergence in Bacterial Adaptive Evolution to Ethanol Stress

Bacterial cells have a remarkable ability to adapt and evolve to environmental changes, a phenomenon known as adaptive evolution. In addition to the phenotypic changes caused by genetic mutations, phenotypic plasticity without genetic alteration also plays a role in adaptive evolution. Although the relationship between phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary dynamics has attracted large interest, very little is known about the contribution of phenotypic plasticity to adaptive evolution. In this study, we analyzed phenotypic and genotypic changes in E. coli cells during adaptive evolution to ethanol stress.