Phenotypic diversity is confined to a low dimension.

(A) Each dot represents a strain in the three-dimensional space of d, Kqs, and 1/B. The black vectors are the projection of the 5D first and second PCA axes, A1 and A2, respectively, to this space. The dashed plane is the 2D plane spanned by A1 and A2. The parameters reside mostly in this plane. (B) Projection of the data along with A1. The deviation of the data plots from the phenotypic plane is small compared to its spread within the plane. (C) The data projected onto the plane spanned by A1 and A2. The error bars are the propagated 34 and 66 percentiles. (D) The projected data in the phenotypic plane and the phenotypic distance between representative strain on the triangle’s edges (parameters order: d, Kqs, 1/B, Kr, λ).