Extraction and quantification of ATP as a measure of microbial biomass

Abstract

ATP has been widely used to estimate total microbial biomass in a variety of systems (Karl 1980, Maltby 1992, Gessner 1997, Abelho 2001). The ubiquitous distribution of ATP in living cells, the rapid loss from dead cells, the fairly constant concentrations in microorganisms (Holm-Hansen & Karl 1978), and the ease of extraction and measurement have fostered the use of ATP as an indicator of living and active microbial biomass (McCarthy 1991).