[Comparative evaluation of methods of intracellular ATP extraction from different types of microorganisms for...

The efficiency of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as extractants of intracellular ATP from various microorganisms was compared in bioluminescent measurements of microbial cell concentrations. Extraction with CTAB was found to provide an approximately ten times higher sensitivity of the bioluninescent assay of microbial cells than extraction with DMSO or TCA. In Gram-positive bacteria and yeasts, the ATP concentration in the extract was a linear function of the microbial suspension density only within a cell concentration range of D600 0.02-3.5 in the three types of tested extracts. In Gram-negative bacteria, a significant deviation from the linear dependence between ATP concentration and microbial suspension density was observed in CTAB extracts at D600 > 1.