Replacement & Acquisition of Plant Growth Chambers

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Washington State University (WSU) is the receipt of funds from the ARI Program to replace obsolescent growth chambers for plant science research. Environmental Growth chambers are critical components of the basic infrastructure of modern plant biology research. As faculty expand their experimental studies, environmental parameters must be controlled to regulate atmospheric gas levels while investigating the effect of global atmospheric changes on plant growth, and to produce and maintain transgenic plants while studying the mechanisms of gene regulation. Current growth chambers are 20 years old and are experiencing intolerable levels of mechanical and electrical failures, severely impairing the research and training mission of the Botany Department. It is essential that faculty and student investigators have access to modern plant growth chambers equipped with high light intensities, humidity control, gas exchange capabilities, and on-line computer monitoring. This award, in addition to funding from the Murdock Charitable Trust and WSU, will be used to establish an Environmental Plant Growth Laboratory, a high priority research initiative. The integrated Laboratory will consist of a number of different plant growth chambers creating an overall facility with the maximum level of flexibility for current and future research needs. Being of sufficient size and diversity will enable investigators to address national and international issues of plant biology over the next two decades. Thus, this project will positively impact the research infrastructure and training mission of WSU well into the next century.