Staphylococcal enterotoxins have long been studied due to the food-borne illness caused and complex intracellular virulence regulation involved. Along with the popularized application of cold chain production of meat products, there is important significance to explore the influence of low temperature on enterotoxin genes expression correlated to regulators under meat cultivation. In this study, SEA and SEB type Staphylococcus aureus strains (designated Sa08 and Sa13 respectively) were cultivated on chicken meat at 8 and 25 °C, typical virulence regulators (agrA, saeS, srrB, rot, codY and icaA), enterotoxins (sea and seb) and metabolic factors (pyk and pyruvate, purR and xanthosine monophosphate) were monitored. As a result, cell density remained stable (104-105 CFU/g) at 8 °C with slight increase in 6 day, and there were drastic pyruvate accumulation along with storing days. Significant upregulation of typical virulence regulators, pyk, purR and seb occurred in post exponential phase at 25 °C (p < 0.001). Nevertheless, phenotypic indexes failed to correspond to transcriptional changes. Expression of seb depended on the upregulation of typical virulence regulators at 8 and 25 °C, and sea had independent expression profile different from typical virulence regulators at 8 °C. Comparing with 25 °C, consistent advanced upregulation of typical virulence regulators (except codY of Sa08), pyk and purR were observed both for Sa08 and Sa13 at 8 °C, and different strains exhibited varied early metabolic response but similar later metabolic status at 8 °C. These phenomena highlighted a concern that, enterotoxigenic S. aureus colonizing on chicken meat exhibited advanced upregulation of typical virulence regulators and close-related virulence at low temperature.