Development of a Flow Cytometry/Cell Sorting Facility

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The Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Facility at the Bigelow Laboratory of Ocean Sciences will further develop the operation and methodology of flow cytometric applications to marine biology/oceanography. This multi-user facility has been instrumental in adapting flow cytometry, a technology developed for use in the biomedical research community, for ocean science research. With this technique, a stream of phytoplankton cells or other microscopic particles is passed through a laser light beam. Different cells and particles can be enumerated and classified according to how they fluoresce or react in response to the laser light. Analysis of the fluoresced signal can yield important information on cell size, cellular constituents, and metabolic condition. Work will continue to develop appropriate flow cytometry standards and items useful for intercalibration of phyto- plankton data. The Facility will be available for use by guest investigators. Coordination with industry will promote further development and modifications to basic flow cytometry instrumentation for oceanographic research. Improvements and modifications will be directed towards towards a) expanding dynamic range of the instruments (4-decade log representa- tion), b) increasing the specific volume analyzed, c) incorporating volume sensing as well as light scatter, d) automating an on-line sampler for a pump profiling system, and e) making the system more rugged for shipboard use.