Factors controlling initial and long-term ATP regeneration catalyzed by immobilized chromatophores

Photosynthetic ATP regeneration was measured in open reactors using immobilized Chromatophores from Rhodopseudomonas capsulata. The influence of several factors on both initial and long-term ADP photophosphorylation was studied. The effect of phosphate salts and of bovine serum albumin on the organelle activity yield was studied. Photophosphorylation was initiated either with ADP or regenerated ATP and the roles of these nucleotides were compared. Different photoreactor configurations were tested for the production of a phosphorylated compound and a flat reactor selected. The presence of inorganic pyrophosphate in the reaction medium was shown to improve the synthesis of ATP 1.4 times. Using the optimal conditions described here, the total G-6P production was 50-fold higher than in batch reactors.