Use of fluorescent microorganisms to perform in vivo and in situ local characterization of microbial deposits

▶ Living fluorescent cells are observed by confocal microscopy. ▶ Organization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli deposits are in situ and in vivo analysed. ▶ For compact deposits, an upper slice of 30 μm thickness can be precisely analysed. ▶ Yeast deposit image analysis matches porosity obtained by Carman-Kozeny equation. ▶ Microorganism size and shape influence on cake structure and fouling is discussed.