Regulation of the expression of the cold shock proteins CspB and CspC in Bacillus subtilis.

The small acidic proteins CspB and CspC are the major cold shock-induced proteins of Bacillus subtilis. Analysis of mRNA revealed a transient four-fold increase in the transcription level of both genes during cold shock. The cspB and cspC mRNAs are dramatically stabilised after a temperature downshift from 37 degrees C to 15 degrees C. The data in this study support the idea that the expression of CspB and CspC in B. subtilis during cold shock is regulated mainly at the post-transcriptional level, as is also the case with CspA in Escherichia coli.