Radial topographies of biofilm colonies

During the biofilm life cycle, bacteria attach to a surface and then reproduce, forming crowded, growing communities. Difficulties in accurately measuring biofilm height across relevant time and length scales have prevented testing diverse biophysical models empirically. Using white light interferometry, we measure the heights of microbial colonies with nanometer precision from inoculation to their final equilibrium height, producing a novel and detailed empirical characterization of vertical growth dynamics. This dataset corresponds to the profiles of developing biofilms, measured through white-light interferometry. This dataset represents novel high-resolution characterizations of developing biofilms in the vertical direction, empirical measurements that can be utilized to test models for biofilm development, ranging from bulk-dynamics to surface fluctuations.