A Scanning Electron Microscope for Studies in Developmental Biology

该合同支持购买一台在常规高真空和变压模式下工作的扫描电子显微镜(SEM)。该仪器将被冷泉港实验室的至少七个研究小组用于研究动植物的发育遗传学。将使用显微镜的项目包括分析玉米和拟南芥的叶片和分生组织发育；分析拟南芥的花和胚珠发育；线虫细胞死亡的发育遗传学；果蝇GTPase信号的发育生物学；以及与果蝇大脑学习和记忆发育相关的形态变化分析。扫描电子显微镜对于这些研究是必不可少的。冷泉港实验室的植物小组正在利用基因陷阱转座子突变技术系统地寻找拟南芥中的新突变。扫描电子显微镜将提供一种手段，根据形态变化以及细胞形状或规格的变化来快速表征这些突变。此外，扫描电子显微镜将用于培训研究生和博士后研究员，以及在对植物领域有广泛影响的拟南芥分子遗传学的冷泉港实验室课程中，以及在CSHL的DNA学习中心。与传统的扫描电子显微镜相比，变压扫描电子显微镜的易用性允许在几分钟内对样品进行可视化，而不需要进行大量的样品准备，并且自动化设置和‘Microsoft Windows’格式的标准操作意味着用户可以快速接受培训。因此，这种显微镜对冷泉港实验室的研究和教学将产生重大影响。

This award supports the acquisition of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) that operates under conventional high vacuum as well as variable pressure mode. The instrument will by used by at least seven research groups at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to study the developmental genetics of plants and animals. Projects that will use the microscope include the analysis of leaf and meristem development in maize and Arabidopsis; analysis of the Arabidopsis flower and ovule development; the developmental genetics of cell death in the nematode C. elegans; developmental biology of GTPase signaling in Drosophila; and the analysis of morphological changes associated with the development of learning and memory in the Drosophila brain. The SEM is essential for these studies.The Plant Group at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is engaged in a systematic search for new mutations in Arabidopsis using gene trap transposon mutagenesis. The SEM will provide a means to rapidly characterize these mutations in terms of morphological changes as well as changes in cell shape or specification. In addition the SEM will be used for training graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and in the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory course in Arabidopsis molecular genetics, which has a wide impact on the plant field, and in the DNA Learning Center at CSHL. The ease of use of the variable pressure SEM, compared to conventional SEMs, allows samples to be visualized within minutes of dissection without the need for extensive sample preparation, and the automated settings and the standard operations in 'Microsoft Windows' format means that users can be quickly trained. Therefore the impact of this microscope on research and education at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory will be substantial.