Escherichia coli displays a conserved membrane proteomic response to a range of alcohols.

Background: Alcohol is a good and environment-friendly fuel that can be microbially produced, capable of eliminating many of the limitations of the present-day fossil fuels. However, the inherent toxic nature of alcohols to the microbial cells leads to end-product inhibition that limits large-scale alcohol production by fermentation. Fundamental knowledge about the stress responses of microorganisms to alcohols would greatly facilitate to improve the microbial alcohol tolerance.