Scanning Electron Microscope for Systematic Biology

摘要霍米加变压扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、临界点干燥器和溅射镀膜机将用于各种生物群的系统生物学研究。这种扫描电子显微镜将被用来收集各种各样的生物和灵敏生物的形态数据。这一设备连同现有的解剖显微镜和光学显微镜、一台用于显微镜的CCD数码相机、扫描仪和计算机工作站将用于在乔治华盛顿大学生物科学系建立一个核心显微镜和图像分析设施。为了实现乔治·华盛顿大学生物科学系和人类学系的六个研究小组(其中四个研究小组目前由美国国家科学基金会资助)的目标，获得扫描电子显微镜至关重要。目前，至少有7名教职员工、2名博士生和17名研究生将使用这种仪器。下列研究项目将使用建议中描述的扫描电子显微镜设施：蜘蛛类蜘蛛的系统学；开花植物的进化史；骨骼组织生长的扫描电子显微镜分析；纤毛原生动物的系统学；恐龙和其他中生代爬行动物的解剖和系统发育；以及受精的骨藻鱼类的精子、精子母细胞和次生性器官的扫描电子显微镜分析。在接下来的三年里，这些研究人员、他们的合作者和学生将不得不在这项提案中描述的研究项目过程中拍摄大约2.1万张扫描电子显微镜照片。

Abstract Hormiga A variable pressure scanningelectron microscope (SEM), a critical point dryer and a sputter coater will be used forresearch in the systematic biology of various groups of organisms. This SEMwill be used to collect morphological data of a wide variety of living andextinct organisms. This equipment, together with existing dissecting andlight microscopes, a CCD digital camera for microscopy, scanners andcomputer workstations will be used to establish a core microscopy and imageanalysis facility in the Department of Biological Sciences at GeorgeWashington University. Access to SEM is essential to accomplish the goalsof six research groups (four of them with active projects currently fundedby NSF) in the departments of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at TheGeorge Washington University. At present at least seven faculty, twopostdocs, and 17 graduate students will be using this instrument. The following research projects will use the SEMfacility described in the proposal: Systematics of araneoid spiders; Evolutionary history of flowering plants; SEM analysis of skeletal tissue growth;Systematics of Ciliated Protista; Anatomy andphylogeny of dinosaurs and other mesozoic reptiles; andSEM analysis of spermatozoa, spermatozeugmata, and secondary sex organs ofinseminating ostariophysan fishes. Over the next three years these researchers andtheir collaborators and students will have to take an estimated 21,000 SEMmicrographs in the course of the research projects described in thisproposal.