Toluene tolerance and therrnotolerance in Crampositive organic solvent resistant bacterium Micrococcus sp. BCNU 121 has been studied. Exposure to a sub- lethal temperature or a sub-lethal concentration of toluene conferred protection to subsequent challenges with a killing temperature or a lethal concentration of toluene, respectively. Pretreatment of Micrococcus sp. BCNU 121 with sub-lethal concentrations of toluene induced adaptative protection against heat shock. Moreover, temperature-adaptative cells also showed cross-resistance to lethal doses of toluene. These data suggested a cross-regulation between toluene tolerance and heat shock response.