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Stability of ATP in Antarctic mineral soils

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Abstract

The stability of exogenous ATP in Antarctic Ross desert soils has been assessed using bioluminescence monitoring of ATP-supplemented samples. Under typical east Antarctic dry valley summer conditions (−3 to +15°C), exogenous ATP was degraded with a half-life of between 0.5 and 30 h. The rate of degradation was affected, in order of significance, by soil biomass levels, temperature and water content. Such rapid removal of exogenous ATP strongly suggests that extracellular ATP from lysed cells in cold desiccated soils does not make a significant contribution to the standing ATP titre

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Acknowledgments

This work was carried out in collaboration with the University of Waikato Antarctic Terrestrial Biology Research Program. The authors gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the South African NRF IRD program, the University of Waikato and Antarctica New Zealand. DAC particularly wishes to thank Dr Ian Hogg and Mr Mark Stevens of Waikato University for their support in the field, and Mr Simon Tuck for technical assistance.

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  1. Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, Cape Town, South Africa

    Don A. Cowan & Ana Casanueva

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  1. Don A. Cowan
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  2. Ana Casanueva
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Correspondence to Don A. Cowan.

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Cowan, D.A., Casanueva, A. Stability of ATP in Antarctic mineral soils. Polar Biol 30, 1599–1603 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0324-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0324-9

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