Acquisition of Ultracentrifuge, Liquid Scintillation CounterAutoclave, and Water Purification System for Photosensory Research in Microorganisms

要求提供预备型超离心机、液体闪烁计数器和高压灭菌器。该设备是两种真核微生物——真菌黑藻菌和藻类莱茵衣藻光反应生化研究的迫切需要。在植菌中，蓝光控制着几种反应，包括向光性、光生长反应、胡萝卜素合成和孢子囊发育。藻菌和许多其他植物和真菌中的蓝光光感受器仍有待鉴定。充分表征突变体的可用性，为光感受器和参与光感觉转导过程的其他分子的生化分离提供了一种策略。在衣藻中，趋光性和胡萝卜素的合成使用视紫红质光感受器。然而，这种视紫红质还没有被纯化到足够的量用于光谱分析。两个生物物理研究小组的生物化学工作水平不断提高，需要在物理楼内提供适当的设备，而不仅仅是在整个校园的生物楼里。细胞分离，特别是膜分离需要超离心机。液体闪烁计数器将用于受体结合研究和使用放射性标记探针跟踪信号通路。该高压灭菌器将用于培养基和设备的灭菌。

Support is requested for a preparative ultracentrifuge, liquid scintillation counter and an, autoclave. This equipment is urgently needed for biochemical studies of photoresponses in two eukaryotic microorganisms, the fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus and the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In Phycomyces, blue light controls several response, including phototropism, light growth responses, carotene synthesis, and sporangiophore development. The blue-light photoreceptors in Phycomyces and in many other plants and fungi remain to be identified. The availablity of well characterized mutants, provides a strategy for biochemical isolation of photoreceptors and other molecules involved in photosensory transduction processes. In Chlamydomonas, phototaxis and carotene synthesis employ a rhodopsin photoreceptor. This rhodopsin, however, has yet to be purified in sufficient quantity for spectroscopic analysis. The increasing level of biochemistry work in the two biophysics research groups requires that appropriate equipment be available within the physics building, instead of only in the biology building across campus. The ultracentrifuge is required for cell fractionation, in particular membrane fractionation. The liquid scintillation counter will be used for receptor binding studies and for tracing signaling pathways using radioactively labeled probes. The autoclave will be used for sterilization of rowth media and apparatus.