Flow Cytometry and Molecular Multi-User Facility at BIOS

为了充分描述和了解区域和全球气候以及基本的海洋过程和功能，科学家需要收集大量信息。某些问题，如海洋如何应对全球气候变化，只能通过深入分析在相当长一段时间内连续收集的数据才能得到答案，这也被称为时间序列研究。百慕大海洋科学研究所是美国一个独立的非营利性组织，是百慕大注册的慈善机构，拥有世界上运行时间最长的几个公开海洋时间序列研究项目(“S”水电站、百慕大大西洋时间序列项目和海洋通量项目)。百慕大独特的地理位置靠近开阔的海洋，再加上国际海洋学研究所的海洋支持基础设施，为解决海洋科学中紧迫问题的研究计划提供了理想的场所。位于BIOS的新的流式细胞术和分子多用户设施(FCMMF)将提供基本的分子仪器、内部流式细胞仪(用于细胞计数、细胞分类和生物标志物检测的基于激光的技术)和垂直采样海洋的设备。该项目将扩大可在当地解决的重要问题的数量，同时为所有用户降低将样品运送到岛外的成本和风险。大量来访的科学家以及与外部科学家正在进行的科学合作，其中许多人拥有NSF支持的研究项目，这意味着FCMMF提供的设备将对整个海洋科学界的研究能力产生深远影响。重要的是，FCMMF将帮助基本输入输出系统满足日益增长的学生对尖端技术研究培训的需求。基本输入输出系统的教育目标是通过研究海洋科学，让学生沉浸在体验式学习中。对于许多学生来说，这可能是一个根本性的变化，他们的机构缺乏海洋科学课程，也没有机会进行独立研究。在基本输入输出系统的教育经历可以影响决定STEM教育和职业轨迹的决策，学生离开时会为追求职业生涯和/或研究生项目做好更好的准备。这一新设施包括现场采样设备，它将提供一种机制，以垂直分层的方式收集浮游生物群落(纳米到中游浮游生物)的个体。所选的干式实验室设备平台具有通用性强、使用方便、维护成本低等特点。Flow Cytometer模型将允许对直径从50 nm到200？m的颗粒进行分析，促进了从环境微生物生态学到真核细胞生物学的广泛研究。如果需要，该单元的模块化能力将允许将来进行改进和扩展。该设施的分子成分将允许进行基本分析，并支持下一代测序的样品准备。FCMMF将使BIOS的广泛研究项目以及来访科学家的研究项目受益。与基础研究的好处相平行，FCMMF设施被明确地设计用于学生实习、当前的基本输入输出系统课程和新课程的开发，特别是现代生物海洋学课程。自2010年以来，BIOS平均每年接待105名访问科学家和750多名学生，其中大多数来自美国机构。FCMMF允许基本输入输出系统为科学家和学生提供解决大量和多样化的生物学问题的能力。除了生物海洋学，该项目还将惠及各种研究项目，包括海洋无脊椎动物的基因组结构和基因表达、珊瑚幼虫寿命和基因流动、开放海洋微生物和真核生物群落的时间和空间精细特征、生物对海洋酸化的反应以及影响海洋-大气气体交换的生物过程。

In order to fully characterize and understand both regional and global climate, as well as fundamental ocean processes and functions, scientists are required to collect a wealth of information. Certain questions, such as how the ocean responds to global climate change, can only be answered by in-depth analysis of data collected continuously over a significantly long period of time, also known as a time-series study. The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) (www.bios.edu), an independent U.S. not-for-profit organization and a Bermuda Registered Charity, is home to several of the longest running, open-ocean time-series research programs in the world (Hydrostation 'S', the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series (BATS) Program and the Ocean Flux Program (OFP)). Bermuda's unique geographic position in close proximity to the open ocean, combined with BIOS' oceanographic support infrastructure, provide an ideal venue for research initiatives that address pressing issues in the ocean sciences. The new Flow Cytometry and Molecular Multi-User Facility (FCMMF) at BIOS will provide access to basic molecular instrumentation, in-house flow cytometer (laser-based technology used in cell counting, cell sorting and biomarker detection) and devices to vertically sample the ocean. This project will expand the number of important questions that can be locally addressed, while reducing the cost and risk associated with shipping samples off-island for all users. The large number of visiting scientists and ongoing scientific collaborations with external scientists, many with NSF-supported research programs, means that the equipment provided by the FCMMF will have a far reaching impact on the research capacity of the marine sciences community as a whole. Importantly, the FCMMF will assist BIOS in meeting the increasing student demand for research training in cutting-edge techniques. The educational goal of BIOS is to immerse students in experiential learning through research in the ocean sciences. This can be a seminal change for many students whose institutions lack programs in marine science or the opportunity to conduct independent research. Education experiences at BIOS can influence decisions that determine STEM education and career trajectories, with students leaving better prepared to pursue professional careers and/or graduate programs. This new facility includes field sampling equipment that will provide a mechanism to collect individuals of the planktonic community (nano to mesoplankton) in a vertically stratified way. The chosen dry lab equipment platforms are characterized by their versatility, easy use and low maintenance. The Flow Cytometer model will allow the analysis of particles from 50 nm to 200 ìm in diameter, facilitating a wide spectrum of studies, from environmental microbial ecology to eukaryotic cell biology. The modularity capability of this unit will allow for future improvement and expansion if desired. The molecular component of the facility will allow basic analyses and also support sample preparation for next-generation sequencing. The FCMMF will benefit a wide range of research programs at BIOS, as well as those of visiting scientists. Paralleling the benefits to basic research, the FCMMF facility has been explicitly designed for use with student internships, current BIOS courses and the development of new courses, particularly a modern biological oceanography course. Since 2010, BIOS has hosted an average of 105 visiting scientists and over 750 students annually, most of them from US institutions. The FCMMF allows BIOS to provide scientists and students with the ability to address numerous and diverse biological questions. In addition to biological oceanography, this project will benefit a wide variety of research programs including genome structure and gene expression in marine invertebrates, larval longevity and gene flow in corals, temporal and spatial fine-scale characterization of open ocean microbial and eukaryotic communities, organismal response to ocean acidification, and the biological processes influencing ocean-atmosphere gas exchange of carbon.