A selective method for distinguishing bacterial and nonbacterial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in clinical bacteriological specimens was studied. The method involved incubation of samples with the detergent Triton X-100 and the ATP-hydrolyzing enzyme apyrase. The incubation selectively destroyed ATP in suspensions of various human cells while not affecting the ATP content in microbial cells. ATP remaining in the sample after incubation was extracted in boiling buffer and assayed by the firefly luciferase assay. Application of the method to 469 clinical urine specimens showed that the ATP level after treatment with Triton/apyrase was correlated to bacterial counts and that the sensitivity of the assay was sufficient for the detection of 10(5) bacteria/ml. The ATP levels per bacterial cell remaining in the urine specimen after treatment with Triton/apyrase were close to values observed in laboratory-grown cultures. The specificity and sensitivity of the luciferase assay for the detection of urinary bacteria and its possible use as a bacteriuria screening method are discussed.