The physiological control of the expression of the genes for the alpha1-adrenoceptor subtypes was examined in rat brown adipose tissue by analysing Northern blots of poly(A)-enriched RNA with oligonucleotide probes. In control rats, alpha1B-receptor gene expression was much lower in brown adipose tissue than in liver, but the expression of both alpha1A and alpha1D was higher than in the heart, making brown adipose tissue one of the mammalian tissues with the highest expression of these subtypes. During acute exposure to cold, alpha1B-receptor gene expression was essentially unchanged, alpha1A-receptor gene expression was increased and alpha1D-receptor gene expression was transiently decreased. Noradrenaline injection could mimic these effects of acute cold exposure, indicating that the physiologically induced up- and down-regulations were due to the interaction of noradrenaline with cells within the tissue. In chronically cold-acclimated animals, alpha1B-receptor gene expression was decreased but that of the alpha1A-receptor gene remained at a level twice that of controls. alpha1D-Receptor gene expression was also somewhat decreased. It is suggested that the enhanced expression of the alpha1A-receptor gene explains the increased alpha1-receptor density in recruited brown adipose tissue reported previously. The intricate and differential regulation of alpha1-receptor gene expression and the markedly enhanced expression of the alpha1A-receptor may imply that alpha1-receptors are important for the recruitment process or for maintenance of the recruited state in this tissue.