MRI-R2: Acquisition of an epifluorescence microscope for research and training at Gettysburg College

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Gettysburg College has received support from the NSF MRI-R2 program to support the acquisition of a Nikon Eclipse 90i microscope plus digital imaging and software technology. This microscope will enable new research initiatives for six faculty, and broaden and enhance the undergraduate training environment at Gettysburg College. The Eclipse 90i microscope will allow our faculty and their undergraduate collaborators to immediately pursue a variety of new research initiatives that are currently not possible. Dr. Kittelberger and his students study the structure and function of neural circuits involved in vocal communication in teleost fish, focusing on neurophysiological mechanisms by which neuromodulators shape vocal behavior. Dr. Frey and her students currently use lipid monolayers to study the physical and chemical interactions between molecules that lead to the formation of cell membrane lipid rafts, ordered microdomains thought to play a role in membrane transport and signal transduction. Dr. James and his students will pursue recent insights into cell cycle control, DNA damage responses, and meiotic recombination, using the model eukaryotic fungus Aspergillus nidulans, as follows: (1) a novel fungal DNA ligase that plays an essential role in meiosis; (2) novel regulatory mechanisms by which Rif1, a component of an S-phase DNA damage response, appears to inhibit the activity of Dbf4-dependent kinase (DDK) to trigger DNA synthesis and meiotic recombination; and (3) in collaboration with Dr. SL McGuire (Millsaps College), an unsuspected interaction between the canonical cell cycle regulator, cdc2-cyclinB kinase, and a component of the mRNA export machinery, Hrb1. Dr. Siviy and his students study how social variables modulate fear and anxiety in young rats. In conjunction with studies on behavioral indices of fear and anxiety, acquisition of this microscope will allow them to quantify changes in neural activation following exposure to an innate fear stimulus in the brain of young rats and to determine how early social experiences can modulate this activation. Dr. Brandauer studies the potential of skeletal muscle to release signaling proteins called myokines and Dr. Powell studies signaling pathways of the innate immune response in C. elegans. Gettysburg College is liberal arts institution offering 4-year bachelor degree programs, with a total enrollment of ~2500 undergraduates. Through coursework and independent research, the biology, chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB), and neuroscience curricula prepare students for continued work in these disciplines. Through close faculty-student collaboration and by offering outstanding research opportunities, Gettysburg College effectively prepares our science students to become leaders among the next generation of scientists; and (2) attracts greater numbers of undergraduates, including women and underrepresented minorities, to the sciences. Acquisition of the Eclipse 90i microscope contributes vitally to these objectives by exposing students to new areas of scientific inquiry and by providing sophisticated, discovery-based training with the latest technology and instrumentation. Results from the studies enabled by the new microscope will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented by students and faculty at regional and national meetings.