Biofilm imaging in porous media by laboratory X-Ray tomography: Combining a non-destructive contrast agent with propagation-based phase-contrast imaging tools.

ABSTRACT: X-ray tomography is a powerful tool giving access to the morphology of biofilms, in 3D porous media, at the mesoscale. Due to the high water content of biofilms, the attenuation coefficient of biofilms and water are very close, hindering the distinction between biofilms and water without the use of contrast agents. Until now, the use of contrast agents such as barium sulfate, silver-coated micro-particles or 1-chloronaphtalene added to the liquid phase allowed imaging the biofilm 3D morphology. However, these contrast agents are not passive and potentially interact with the biofilm when injected into the sample. Here, we use a natural inorganic compound, namely iron sulfate, as a contrast agent progressively bounded in dilute or colloidal form into the EPS matrix during biofilm growth. By

SUBMITTER: Carrel M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5521744 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature