Despite being an important topic in biofilm research, we still know little about diffusion in biofilms. Emerging biofilms of Lactococcus lactis growing in custom‐made flow‐cells were monitored and diffusion constants across the height of the biofilms recorded. The biofilms showed different diffusional behavior with regard to flow rate and pH variations, despite growing to similar thickness. At a higher flow rate, the biofilm exhibits slower diffusion compared to the reference cultivation at lower flow rate. By increasing pH, the biofilm exhibited fast growth and little difference in diffusion compared to the reference cultivation. Furthermore, the diffusion inside of the biofilms differed depending on the position in the flow‐cell. The present study reveals new insights in how external factors can affect structure and density of biofilms. The method can be reliably used for L. lactis biofilms with a thickness up to 120 μm.

中文翻译：

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不同条件下乳酸乳球菌生物膜的扩散曲线


尽管这是生物膜研究的一个重要课题，但我们对生物膜中的扩散仍然知之甚少。对在定制流动池中生长的乳酸乳球菌的新兴生物膜进行监测，并记录生物膜高度上的扩散常数。尽管生物膜的厚度相似，但在流速和 pH 值变化方面表现出不同的扩散行为。在较高流速下，与较低流速下的参考培养相比，生物膜表现出较慢的扩散。通过增加 pH 值，生物膜表现出快速生长，与参考培养相比，扩散差异很小。此外，生物膜内部的扩散根据流动池中的位置而不同。本研究揭示了外部因素如何影响生物膜的结构和密度的新见解。该方法可以可靠地用于厚度达 120 μm 的乳酸乳球菌生物膜。