We cloned and characterized two cold shock inducible genes from the deep-sea psychrophilic bacterium Shewanella violacea strain DSS12. The cloned genes, designated cspA and cspG, encode proteins each consisting of 70 amino acid residues which show 62 and 67% sequence identity with Escherichia coli CspA and CspG, respectively. AT-rich UP elements were found immediately upstream of the promoter region and the cspA and cspG mRNA contained unusually long 5' untranslated regions like that in the E. coli cspA, cspB, cspG and cspI genes. Following a temperature downshift to 4 degrees C or -1 degree C, the levels of cspA and cspG mRNA increased and the level of expression of cspG was greater than that of cspA both before and after cold shock. These results suggest that CspA and CspG may function as RNA chaperones, the mRNAs encoded by these two genes may be regulated post-transcriptionally and they may function as regulators of other cold shock inducible genes like in E. coli.