Bacterial responses to single chemical species/stressors in many cases is well understood. The natural environment though, tends to be combinatorial in nature and multiple different stressors might be present at any given time. Living organisms must be able to sense this combinatorial environment and make "decisions" accordingly. To better understand how bacteria do this on the single cell level, we have tested the effects of three different types of stress induces, hydrogen peroxide, HCl, and EDTA. Each one has been tested for their affect on the growth of E. coli on an individual basis and also all possible combinations. In addition, our analysis gives data about transcriptional/translational control. For this analysis, we have used cells expression a �-galactosidase gene (lacZ). In the presence of the lacZ gene product and 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl- beta-D-galactopyranoside (X-gal), the E. coli cells are blue. For this analysis, we have used lacZ being expressed by the normal lac promoter, but also lacZ expressed via other promoters so that different transcriptional responses can be detected.