[ATP pool and bioluminescence in psychrophilic bacteria Photobacterium phosphoreum].

Bioluminescence activity and ATP pool were investigated in the culture of psychrophilic bacteria Photobacterium phosphoreum collected-from the exponential and stationary growth phases, as well as immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cryogel. In liquid culture, ATP pool remained at an almost a constant level throughout the luminescence cycle (over 100 h). The ATP pool in the stationary-phase and PVA-immobilizedl cells remained constant throughout their incubation in the medium (over 200 h) and in 3% NaCl solution (over 100 h): Quantitative assessment of integral photon yield and ATP pool indicated that bioluminescence decay in growing or stationary cells was not caused by limitation by the energy substrates of the luciferase reaction.