Utilization of glucose and cellobiose by the microflora of soil enriched with cellulose

The ability of soil microflora to utilize glucose or celloboise was found to depend on previous incubation of the soil with glucose, celloboise or cellulose. Glucose was utilized more rapidly than cellobiose in soil preincubated with glucose or cellobiose. The opposite situation was observed in soil preincubated with cellulose. In the presence of a mixture of both sugars the rate of utilization of one of them was decreased by the second and this decrease could be characterized as competitive inhibition. Glucose accumulated in the medium during utilization of cellobiose alone in soil preincubated with cellulose. This phenomenon was not observed during the utilization of cellobiose in soil preincubated with glucose or cellobiose.