Pellicles of crystalline cellulose were synthesized by G. xylinus strains ACCC 53524 and ATCC 23769 for 1 day and 7 days.
The changes in cellulose microfibril aggregation were monitored using sum frequency generation (SFG) vibration spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
SEM showed that newly synthesized cellulose microfibrils are deposited at the top of the pellicle.
SEM and SFM showed that the aggregation and packing of cellulose microfibrils was greatest at the top of the pellicle after 7 days culture compared to cellulose microfibrils at the bottom of 7 day pellicles.