Oxygen Microenvironments in Biofilm Nutrient Transport Channels: Insights from Complementary Sensing Approaches.

Chemical gradients and the emergence of distinct microenvironments in biofilms are vital to the stratification, maturation and overall function of microbial communities. These gradients have been well characterised throughout the biofilm mass but the microenvironment of recently discovered nutrient transporting channels in biofilms remains unexplored. This study employs three different oxygen sensing approaches to provide a robust quantitative overview of the oxygen gradients and microenvironments throughout the biofilm transport channel networks formed by macrocolony biofilms.