Acquisition of Automated Genotyping and Sequencing Equipment

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Unprecedented growth in the use of molecular methods by the ecology, population genetics, and plant molecular genetics groups in Hull Gourt, representing three biology departments, motivates this proposal for support of automated equipment for DNA sequencing and molecular genotyping. This growth has been propelled by three forces, the exciting scientific possibilities made accessible with sequence data - many of which are being charted for the first time by the proposed users, technological innovations in automated sequencing, and the strategic growth of the three biology groups at the University of Chicago. To further enhance research excellence and leadership, and to provide research training opportunities we have developed a plan for a "hands-on" multi-user facility that will contain equipment needed to carry out all steps in DNA sequencing and genotyping. The facility will include two new DNA sequencers and a workstation for automated sample processing, in addition to an existing ABI 373A sequencer. The facility will also have high capacity temperature cycling machines for carrying out sequencing reactions, centrifuges, and other equipment needed for this work. To accommodate the requirements for data editing, statistical analysis and database comparisons generated by the research, the facility will house four Macintosh PowerPC and two Silicon Graphics workstations. The computing speed afforded by these workstations will assure the group's leadership in the rapidly growing field of simulating molecular population genetics and evolutionary processes. It will also promote the synergistic interaction of complementing strengths - computation (population geneticists) and informatics (molecular geneticists). The facility will be managed by Dr. L-W Zen, under the supervision of Dr. M. Kreitman and a three person Instrument Policy Committee. These modern instruments will have broad impact on the University community. The 13 primary faculty users belong to si x graduate training programs, and currently have 22 postdoctoral research associates, 39 graduate students, and 26 undergraduates working in their labs, including 34 women and eight members of minority groups. The nine secondary users have 14 postdoctoral research associates, 28 graduate students and 13 undergraduates. All qualified users will have access to the sequencing facility 24 hours a day. More than one hundred undergraduates, over half of whom are women, will use the instrumentation annually through required courses, independent research, and other training opportunities. The University is an NSF REU site, and also supports summer undergraduate research with grants from Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Pew Foundation, and the Biological Sciences Division. The Biological Sciences Division also participates in the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) and the DBS Minority Summer Fellowship Program, both of which provide research opportunities for minorities. The use of naturally occurring DNA sequence variation in the analysis of biological processes is a common theme that unites the three areas of research represented by the primary users - molecular population genetics, molecular ecology, and plant molecular genetics. The ability to automate data acquisition is leading to dramatic scientific advances in all three areas of research, and at the same time is promoting interdisciplinary interaction on an unprecedented scale. Interdisciplinary research and graduate training have been hallmarks of the University of Chicago's educational philosophy. The recent growth of interdisciplinary evolutionary genetics and ecology groups in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, the creation of a developmental evolutionary genetics group in the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, and the joint expansion of plant genetics by the departments of E&E and Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology (MGCB), all build on this philosophical foundation, and pro vide strategic opportunities for innovative new research. The successful recruitment of two senior faculty in molecular evolutionary genetics by the E&E department several years ago, M Kreitman and C-I Wu, have catalyzed the conversion of research by other groups to incorportate molecular approaches. At the same time, E&E has embarked on a strategic plan to develop research excellence in ecology by recruiting six faculty members, S PruettJones, M Leibold, E Simms, C Pfister, T Wootton and J Bergelson. Several are using molecular methods in their research, and J Bergelson's work is being acknowledged as defining a new field of molecular ecology. At the same time, MGCB has recruited into Hull Court two excellent plant molecular geneticists, B Keith and D Preuss, and is currently searching for a senior plant developmental geneticist, who will also be housed in Hull Court. Crucial to the fulfillment of research potential of these expanding groups is the development of a Genotyping and DNA Sequencing Facility, a point of convergence for all these research groups.