Modeling of the Bacillus subtilis Bacterial Biofilm Growing on an Agar Substrate

Figure 6

The parameter effect on the biofilm thickness. (a) The yield coefficient    describes the ratio of the amount of biomass produced to the amount of substrate consumed [25]. (b) The maximum specific growth rate    describes the maximum proliferation ability of microorganisms. (c) The diffusion coefficient    reflects the nutrient diffusion ability into biofilm and (d) the biofilm biomass density    indicates the biomass in unit volume. Moreover, the biofilm thickness as a function of time for different (b) () and (c) () at a steady state (inset) is shown.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)