title: The ATP paradox is the expression of an economizing fuel mechanism.
abstract: The strong negative correlation between glycolytic flux and intracellular ATP concentration observed in yeast has long been an intriguing and counterintuitive phenomenon, which has been referred to as the ATP paradox. Herein, using principles of irreversible thermodynamics it was shown that if the ATP-consuming pathways are more sensitive to extracellular glucose than glycolysis, then upon glucose addition glycolysis performance can switch from an efficient working regime to a dissipative regime, and vice versa, depending on glucose availability. The efficient regime represents a good compromise between high output power and low dissipation, whereas the dissipative working regime offers a higher output power although at a high glucose cost. The physiological and evolutionary implications of this switch strategy are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain. caledo@uma.es
authors.forename: J Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Aledo
authors.forename: Alicia Esteban
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: del Valle
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006019:Glycolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010766:Phosphorylation; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D005947:Glucose