ATP and Bioenergetics

With some biocide treatments there is a simple direct relationship between ATP and viable cell counts. However, where the mechanism of biocide action is related to influences on cell bioenergetics, or the concentration range employed is biostatic and affects cell metabolism, then ATP results may not follow the same pattern as microbial counts. Under these circumstances low ATP results at relatively high microbial levels might be expected but it is also possible that ATP levels increase over a period of time. 

Ion-binding studies with biological molecules can be important in elucidating fundamental biochemical reaction systems in relation to bioenergetics, enzyme activation and membrane transport [182]. For example, the adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—adenosine diphosphate (ADP) cycle is one of the processes of primary importance to cellular energy systems and association constants determined [427—430] for metal—ATP and metal—ADP complexes are therefore of considerable interest Table 2.5). The constants may be obtained from measure-... 

Purines are an integral part of ATP and of many coenzymes—such as NAD, FAD, and UDP— involved in important bioenergetic or biosynthetic reactions. The stepwise elucidation of the biosynthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides from 1940 to 1960 might well be one of the most remarkable contributions to the development of modem biochemistry. 

---