REU: Refinement of Instrumentation, Protocols, and Calibrations for the Analysis of Marine Bacteria by Flow Cytometry

阿拉斯加大学海洋科学研究所将进一步发展用于海洋生物学和海洋学的流式细胞术技术。该研究所在将流式细胞术（一种为生物医学研究界开发的技术）用于海洋科学研究方面发挥了重要作用。利用这种技术，一束细菌、细胞或其他微小颗粒通过激光光束。不同的细胞和粒子可以根据它们在激光下发出荧光或作出反应的方式进行列举和分类。分析荧光信号可以得到细胞大小、细胞成分和代谢状况的重要信息。这项工作将继续侧重于使用流式细胞术研究海洋细菌。将继续制定适当的流式细胞术标准和方案。该实验室也将供客座研究人员使用。与工业界的协调将促进用于海洋研究的基础流式细胞仪的进一步发展和改进。改进和修改的方向将是扩大仪器的动态范围和提高灵敏度。还将探讨测定每个细胞蛋白质含量和膜电位的方法。

The Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska will further develop flow cytometric techniques for marine biology and oceanography. The Institute 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 bacteria, 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. This effort will continue to focus on using flow cytometry for studying marine bacteria. Work will continue on developing appropriate flow cytometry standards and protocols. The laboratory will also 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 expanding dynamic range of the instrument and increasing sensitivity. Methods for determining protein content per cell and membrane potential will also be explored.