An examination was made of the effects of four different starvation conditions on a member of the industrially important bacterial genus Streptomyces (Streptomyces lividans). Protein synthesis after the switch from an initial rich medium (YEME) to the different starvation media was examined by [S-35]methionine labelling and followed over a time course of 2 hours. Changes in the pattern of protein synthesis were observed which varied according to the different nutrient limitations examined and appeared to suggest the presence of stress protein subsets which were specific to the nutrient limited. The major HSPs previously identified in S. lividans were not observed to be induced by these nutrient limitations.