Relationship between steps in 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) fluorescence and changes in the energized membrane state and in intracellular and extracellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) levels following bacteriophage T5 infection of Escherichia coli.

The addition of bacteriophage T5 to anaerobic, fermenting cells of Escherichia coli B or K-12 in the presence of 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS), N-phenylnaphthyl-1-amine (NPN), or dansyl ethylamine causes the fluorescence of these probes to rise in two steps, the first occurring immediately upon addition, the second delayed by 6 min. The conditions necessary for observing this phenomenon are defined (cell density, probe concentration, substrate, absence of an electron acceptor, multiplicity of infection, growth, and harvesting conditions). The magnitudes of the first and second steps in fluorescence are dependent upon the multiplicity of infection; the timing of the steps is not. The first step correlates with a breakdown in the potassium or rubidium permeability barrier of the cells, and it occurs either aerobically or anaerobically, with fermentable or nonfermentable substrates. The second step occurs only with cells that are without an available electron acceptor, are fermenting, and which have a functional membrane-bound, Ca2+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). The results are consistent with disturbance of energization of the cell membrane by the membrane-bound ATPase at the time of the second step in fluorescence. No changes in the intracellular level of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) was seen, whereas the extracellular level increased sharply, starting 3--6 min after phage addition. The quantity of ATP found in the medium by 30 min after infection amounted to about four times the amount present inside the cells at the time of infection. The quantity and rate of efflux of ATP was similar under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.