Exposure of young spinach seedlings (Spinacia oleracea L. cv Bloomsdale) to 5 C leads to an increase in the synthesis of several 79-kilodalton proteins that are present in leaf tissue grown at 200 C. Protein sequence analyses and immunological cross-reactivity indicate that this group of proteins belongs to the 70-kilodalton heatshock family. Steady-state transcript levels and protein synthesis are increased two-to threefold within 1 day, but immunoblot analyses suggest that the steady-state concentration of this protein group in leaf tissue only gradually accumulates at low temperature. It is proposed that the increased synthesis of several members of the 70-kilodalton heat-shock family could result from an influence of low temperature on protein folding and/or assembly processes.Plants are poikilotherms and must be able to adjust to changes in ambient temperature to ensure survival. In keeping with this need to adjust to a changing environment, polar, temperate, and alpine perennial plants follow a cyclical rhythm of growth and dormancy. In these plants, the cessation of vegetative growth and onset of dormancy is a prerequisite for the induction of tolerance to the stresses imposed by freezing (35). Collectively, the set of biochemical and physiological events that augments a plant's tolerance to low temperature stress is termed cold acclimation (35). In hardy plants, cold acclimation performs two major functions: (a) the adjustment of cellular metabolism and function to the kinetic and biophysical constraints imposed by reduced temperature, and (b) the induction of freezing tolerance (11).At low nonfreezing temperatures that promote cold acclimation, many plant species exhibit subtle changes in gene expression (11,15)