Temperature and heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd) are important environmental stressors that can strongly affect mitochondrial function of marine poikilotherms. In this study, we investigated the combined effects of temperature (20 degrees C and 30 degrees C) and Cd stress on production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress in a marine poikilotherm Crassostrea virginica (the eastern oyster) using mitochondrial aconitase as a sensitive biomarker of oxidative damage. We also assessed potential involvement of mitochondrial uncoupling proteins (UCPs) in antioxidant protection in oyster mitochondria using purine nucleotides (GDP, ATP and ADP) as specific inhibitors, and free fatty acids as stimulators, of UCPs. Our results show that exposure to Cd results in elevated ROS production and oxidative damage as indicated by aconitase inactivation which is particularly pronounced at elevated temperature. Unexpectedly, oyster mitochondrial aconitase was inhibited by physiologically relevant levels of ATP (IC(50)=1.93 and 3.04 mmol l(-1) at 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C, respectively), suggesting that allosteric regulation of aconitase by this nucleotide may be involved in regulation of the tricarboxylic acid flux in oysters. Aconitase was less sensitive to ATP inhibition at 30 degrees C than at 20 degrees C, consistent with the elevated metabolic flux at higher temperatures. ADP and GDP also inhibited mitochondrial aconitase but at the levels well above the physiological concentrations of these nucleotides (6-11 mmol l(-1)). Our study shows expression of at least three UCP isoforms in C. virginica gill tissues but provides no indication that UCPs protect mitochondrial aconitase from oxidative inactivation in oysters. Overall, the results of this study indicate that temperature stress exaggerates toxicity of Cd leading to elevated oxidative stress in mitochondria, which may have important implications for survival of poikilotherms in polluted environments during seasonal warming and/or global climate change, and suggest a novel temperature-dependent mechanism of allosteric regulation of TCA flux in oyster mitochondria.