Acclimation of the temperature set-points of the heat-shock response

We surveyed studies that examined the heat-shock response (HSR) temperature set-points in response to changes in growth temperature to ask whether plasticity of the HSR set-points is common to all organisms, and whether it varies with thermal niche. Unexpectedly, sessile organisms exhibited lower acclimation in the HSR set-points compared to mobile organisms, and there was no difference in acclimation between eurytherms and stenotherms. The extent of acclimation differed among different heat-shock proteins, and the HSR temperature set-points (induction, maximal response, and shut-off). We show that HSR induction temperatures change in a step-wise fashion in response to growth temperature. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.