Acquisition of an Atomic Force Bioscope

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0091716EdwardsThis grant provides partial support of the costs of acquiring an Atomic Force Bioscope (AFB) for the P.I.'s laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Numerous other researchers in the Woods Hole area, at WHOI or affiliated with the Marine Biological Laboratories (MBL), will also have access to this equipment. This AFB will represent the highest resolution imaging tool available to researchers in the Woods Hole area. It will be mounted on, and used in conjunction with for many studies, the P.I.'s existing Zeiss Axiovert 100 inverted fluorescent microscope. This will allow simultaneous and in-line fluorescent and atomic force images to be collected. Uses for the AFB will be quite varied; it will be used both as an analytical tool and an imaging system. In the P.I.'s laboratory, the AFB will be used primarily for quantitative determinations of interfacial forces between microbial cells and mineral surfaces, microbial mineral dissolution studies, and simultaneous in-situ phylogenetic identification of microorganisms combined with morphological and structural analysis of naturally occurring microbial populations. Other researchers will use the instrument to analyze the physical and chemical properties of surfaces that dictate frictional strength of rocks, determine cytoskeletal structures and function in non-mammalian vertebrates, analyze structural interactions of ion channels with large high-affinity peptide neurotoxins, and spatially map plasma membranes while making concomitant electrochemical measurements. Support for this grant is shared between Divisions of Earth and Ocean Sciences.***