Acquisition of DNA Sequencing and Bioinformatics Resources for the Molecular Research Core Facility at Idaho State University

该项目将扩大爱达荷州立大学（ISU）分子研究核心设施（MRCF）的测序能力，通过升级他们现有的DNA测序仪和购买机器人单元和生物信息学集成包。近年来，由于现有教师越来越多地使用分子工具，以及2004年秋季生物科学系新加入了六名终身教授和一名研究人员，MRCF经历了巨大的增长。获得的仪器将加强研究活动和供资竞争力，特别是跨学科合作项目。近年来，教师招聘的目的是创建互动的、跨学科的研究集群，以规划大型项目。其中一些集群依赖于高效、高容量的MRCF，包括进化基因组学、神经生物学、“外基因组学”（研究质粒和噬菌体）、宏基因组学（环境生物多样性评估和监测）和生态基因组学组。除了个人的研究努力外，这些群体之间的协同作用正在导致对分子研究能力的需求激增。该仪器将把MRCF带向两个关键的新方向。首先，除了传统的分子研究之外，许多当前的用户正在将他们的研究扩展到基因组规模的分析。MRCF的扩展将有助于其在小基因组研究中的应用。新仪器的第二个关键方向涉及MRCF与国际滑联现有生物信息学设施的整合。这将MRCF带入了后基因组时代，允许MRCF用户拥有从作业提交到数据质量控制和存储到操作和分析的无缝体验。自2004年春季以来，ISU的生物信息学小组一直在与MRCF合作，为这一整合做基础工作，并将继续在与MRCF及其用户的合作中发挥主要作用。长期以来，ISU一直强调为本科生提供动手研究的机会，其中许多人继续在全国顶尖的研究生项目中攻读研究生。MRCF在为招募和培训拉美裔、美洲原住民和农村学生提供设施方面发挥着重要作用，为“高等教育的管道”做出贡献，重点是将分子科学经验带入课堂，将学生带入研究实验室。倡议包括针对地区本地高中生的本地学者计划和针对本地高中生的生物青年研究计划。这些外联计划将随着MRCF资源的增加而扩大。

This project will expand the sequencing capacity at Idaho State University's (ISU) Molecular Re-search Core Facility (MRCF) through the upgrade of their current DNA sequencer and purchase of a robotics unit and a bioinformatics integration package. The MRCF has experienced enor-mous growth in recent years due to increased use of molecular tools by existing faculty and the arrival of six new tenure-track and one research faculty in the Department of Biological Sciences in fall 2004. The acquired instruments will enhance research activities and funding competitive-ness, especially for interdisciplinary collaborative projects. Faculty hires in recent years have been designed to create interactive, interdisciplinary research clusters to plan large-scale pro-jects. Some of these clusters depend upon an efficient, high-capacity MRCF, including evolu-tionary genomics, neurobiology, "extragenomics" (studying plasmids & phages), metagenomics (environmental biodiversity assessment and monitoring), and ecological genomics groups. Syn-ergy within these groups, in addition to individual research efforts, is leading to a groundswell of demand for molecular research capacity.This instrumentation will take the MRCF in two critical new directions. First, in addition to tra-ditional molecular research, many current users are expanding their investigations to genome-scale analyses. Expansion of the MRCF will contribute to its use in small-genome research. The second critical direction for the new instrumentation involves the integration of the MRCF with ISU's existing bioinformatics facilities. This brings the MRCF into the post-genomic era, allow-ing MRCF users to have a seamless experience from job submission to data quality control and storage to manipulation and analysis. The bioinformatics group at ISU has been working with the MRCF since spring 2004 to do the groundwork for this integration and will continue to play a major role in collaborating with the MRCF and its users.ISU has long emphasized hands-on research opportunities for undergraduate students, many of whom go on to graduate school in the nation's top graduate programs. The MRCF plays a large role in providing facilities for the recruitment and training of regional Hispanic, Native Ameri-can, and rural students by contributing to a "pipeline to higher education" focused on bringing molecular science experiences into the classroom and students into research laboratories. Initia-tives include the Native Scholars Program for regional native high school students and the Biol-ogy Youth Research Program for local high school students. These outreach programs will ex-pand with the augmentation of MRCF resources.