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，以及海洋的基本过程和功能，科学家需要收集大量的信息。某些问题，如海洋对全球气候变化的反应，只能通过对相当长一段时间内连续收集的数据进行深入分析来回答，也称为时间序列研究。百慕大海洋科学研究所（BIOS） （www.bios.edu）是一家独立的美国非营利组织和百慕大注册慈善机构，是世界上几个运行时间最长的开放海洋时间序列研究项目（S号水文站、百慕大大西洋时间序列（BATS）项目和海洋通量项目（OFP））的所在地。百慕大靠近开放海洋的独特地理位置，加上BIOS的海洋学支持基础设施，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。BIOS的新型流式细胞仪和分子多用户设施（FCMMF）将提供基本的分子仪器、内部流式细胞仪（用于细胞计数、细胞分选和生物标志物检测的激光技术）和海洋垂直采样设备。该项目将扩大可在当地解决的重要问题的数量，同时减少所有用户将样品运出岛的成本和风险。大量的访问科学家和正在进行的与外部科学家的科学合作，许多与nsf支持的研究项目，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的影响。重要的是，FCMMF将帮助BIOS满足日益增长的学生对尖端技术研究培训的需求。BIOS的教育目标是通过海洋科学研究让学生沉浸在体验式学习中。对于许多学生来说，这可能是一个开创性的变化，因为他们所在的机构缺乏海洋科学课程或进行独立研究的机会。在BIOS的教育经历可以影响决定STEM教育和职业轨迹的决策，学生离开后可以更好地追求专业职业和/或研究生课程。这个新设施包括实地取样设备，它将提供一种机制，以垂直分层的方式收集浮游生物群落（纳米到中浮游生物）的个体。所选择的干实验室设备平台的特点是其多功能性，易于使用和低维护。流式细胞仪模型将允许分析直径从50 nm到200 ìm的颗粒，促进广泛的研究，从环境微生物生态学到真核细胞生物学。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，也支持下一代测序的样品制备。FCMMF将使BIOS的广泛研究项目以及访问科学家的研究项目受益。除了对基础研究的好处外，海洋生物基金设施的设计明确用于学生实习、目前的海洋生物系统课程和开发新课程，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BIOS为科学家和学生提供解决众多不同生物学问题的能力。除生物海洋学外，该项目还将有利于广泛的研究项目，包括海洋无脊椎动物的基因组结构和基因表达，珊瑚的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空精细尺度特征，海洋酸化的生物响应，以及影响海洋-大气气体碳交换的生物过程。

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.