ATP and acetylene-reducing activity of a sulfate-reducing bacterium.

A sulfate-reducing bacterium, a strain of Desulfovibrio vulgaris, when lactate or pyruvate was supplied as an electron and energy source, reduced acetylene only in the presence of sulfate. Acetylene reduction started after a lag of 1 h. H2 which acts as an electron and energy source for sulfate reduction was unable to reduce acetylene even in the presence of sulfate. It was suggested, from the measurements of the amounts of adenine nucleotides of the bacterium incubated under various conditions, that the bacterium is able to reduce acetylene at a high ATP level or a high ATP/ADP ratio.