the effect of carbon-starvation on the stress resistance responses of a p-nitrophenol degrading moraxella strain was examined in both, buffer and river water samples. the moraxella strain showed optimal stress resistance responses in a minimal salt buffer when carbon-starved for 1-2 days. in the buffer system, the 1- and 2-day carbon-starved moraxella cultures survived about 150-, 200- and 100-foid better than the non-starved cultures when exposed to 43.5°c, 2.7m naci and 500 " h2o2 for 4 hours, respectively. a green fluorescent protein gene- labelled derivative of the moraxella strain was used to examine the stress resistance responses of the bacterium in natural river water microcosms. the carbon-starved gfp-labelled moraxella strain also showed stress resistant responses against heat, osmotic and oxidative stresses in the river water samples. despite the stress tolerant capability of the carbon-starved gfp-labelled moraxella cells, they did not exhibit any survival advantage over their non-starved counterparts when inoculated into river water microcosms and incubated at 10° or 22°c for fourteen days.