Cold shock CspA and CspB protein production during periodic temperature cycling in Escherichia coli.

Background: Temperature is an important environmental factor which can dramatically affect biochemical processes in bacteria. Temperatures above optimal cause heat shock, while low temperatures induce cold shock. Since the physiological response of the bacterium Escherichia coli to slow temperature fluctuation is not well known, we investigated the effect of periodic temperature cycling between 37° and 8°C with a period of 2 h on proteome profile, cold shock CspA and CspB protein and gene production.

Conditioning of the membrane fatty acid profile of Escherichia coli during periodic temperature cycling.

The membrane fatty acid composition of Escherichia coli becomes conditioned during periodic temperature cycling between 37 and 8 degrees C. After several cycles of temperature change, the bacteria become locked into a low-temperature physiology. Even after a prolonged incubation at high temperature the membrane fatty acid composition of conditioned cells was similar to that of cold-stressed cells.