REU: Immunofluorescent Characterization of the Eukaryotic Ultraplankton

已知小的（3um）真核细胞是海洋和沿海水域光合生物量的重要组成部分。由于细胞体积小，通常不能用标准的显微镜方法来鉴别。因此，正在开发和应用新技术。具体地说，开发了小型浮游植物（超浮游植物）附属色素和表面蛋白的免疫荧光检测方法。然后，这些标记将被用来表征海洋中小细胞菌群的分类组成。虽然这种大小的浮游植物在生物学上非常活跃，但它们很难识别和使用。将用先进的生物技术方法来解决这个问题，这反映了海洋学界希望扩大现有技术来处理困难的生物问题。

Small (3um) eukaryotic cells are known to be a substantial component of the photosynthetic biomass in the ocean and coastal waters. Because of their small size, cells cannot generally be identified by standard microscopic procedures. Thus, the development and application of new techniques is being pursued. Specifically, the development of immunofluorescent assays for the accesory pigments and surface proteins of small size class phytoplankton (ultraplankton). Such markers will then be used to characterize the taxonomic composition of the small cell flora in the ocean. Although the phytoplankton in this size class are very active biologically, they are difficult to identify and work with. The problem will be approached with advanced biotechnological methods, which reflects the desire of the oceanographic community to expand the available techniques for dealing with difficult biological problems.