Phenotype
Japanese: 表現型（フェノタイプ）
Observable characteristics of an organism that emerge from the interaction between genotype and environment. Includes morphology, metabolic capacity, growth rate, and enzyme activity.
Phenotype refers to the characteristics of an organism that 'appear on the surface' through the interaction of genotype and environment. Colony color, growth rate, enzyme production, heat tolerance—all observable and measurable traits constitute the phenotype.
Even koji mold with the same genome will produce dramatically different amounts of amylase when temperature, humidity, or substrate changes. This is a classic example of how phenotype varies with environment even when genotype remains the same.
In mutant screening, promising strains are identified from phenotypic differences such as colony shape and color. If the genome is the totality of possibilities, the phenotype is the reality that manifests.
When a fermentation artisan 'reads the state of the microbes,' they are reading the phenotype. Experiential knowledge is nothing other than the skilled reading of phenotypes.