Extraction de l'adenosine triphosphate dans les sols: Une nouvelle methode de calcul des pertes en ATP

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was extracted from 6 soils and 3 ATP supplemented clays with a sulfuric acid reagent previously shown to minimize ATP losses. Results indicated that ATP losses were due to adsorption phenomena. The amount of adsorbed ATP was related to soil composition, soil weight and to the actual ATP content of the analysed soil sample. A mathematical formula was developed to determine the adsorption coefficient of ATP and consequently the ATP content of soils, using, for each soil, two experimentally determined soil ATP contents based on analysis using two different soil weights.The adsorption coefficient was constant in each soil, independent of soil ATP content and soil moisture content. Freeze-drying reduced the adsorption coefficient on 4 of the 6 soils but did not affect soil ATP content. In practice this method permits accurate correction for ATP losses, it simplifies the experimental procedure and reduces the number of analyses if multiple ATP measurements are required for a given soil under different conditions.