[The effect of carbon dioxide gas on the growth of Candida utilis yeasts during continuous cultivation in a chemostat].

The cells of Candida utilis were cultivated in the conditions of chemostat, and the growth was limited by a nitrogen source. Accumulation in the medium of carbon dioxide inhibited the growth of the microbial population. The growth was now limited not by a source of nitrogen but by an excess of one of the forms of carbon dioxide--hydrocarbonate. This inhibition was reversible and could be eliminated either by intensifying ventilation of the apparatus or by varying pH of the medium within the range optimal for the growth, which changed the ratio between free and hydrocarbonate forms of carbon dioxide in the growth medium.