The properties of microbial pellicles are tuned by adjusting the physical culture conditions. A culture of Gluconacetobacter xylinus can be grown in a liquid growth media having a surface exposed to air so that a basal pellicle of microbial cellulose forms on the surface. Feeding the culture by adding additional liquid growth media at the surface, thereby submerging the basal pellicle and then allowing the culture to grow again forms a second pellicle of microbial cellulose.
