Abstract
Soil was freed of its organic matter by heating it to 400°C. Plants were grown in a 14CO 2 atmosphere and from them a labelled “soil organic matter” (humus) was prepared by composting the plant material for more than 3 yr in the modified soil under laboratory conditions. The influence of small additions of unlabelled glucose on the decomposition of the labelled soil organic matter was studied. Shortly after the addition of glucose there was a small extra evolution of 14CO 2, which lasted about 1 day. It is claimed that the extra evolution of 14CO 2 was caused by conversion of labelled material in the living biomass and was not due to a real priming action, i.e. an accelerated decomposition of humic substances or dead cellular material.
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