MRI: Acquisition of an Illumina MiSeq for Education and Research

维拉诺瓦大学获得了一项奖励，以获得专注于Illumina MiSeq仪器的下一代测序平台。该项目将支持跨越生物学和生物化学学科的高影响力研究项目，并将为研究生和本科生提供使用领先技术的实践基因组学经验。维拉诺瓦大学是一所主要的本科院校，致力于招收和留住来自代表性不足的群体和弱势背景的学生，2013年，有色人种学生占全日制学生的20%以上。该大学也有一个令人印象深刻的注意力记录，截至2013年，所有种族的6年毕业率超过85%。随时获得尖端的测序技术，以及它促进的跨学科基因组学和生物信息学方法，将支持生物和化学部门努力吸引来自代表性不足的群体的学生从事STEM职业。这套设备使维拉诺瓦大学的本科生和硕士生基因组学教育得以转变，并将成为基因组学新课程的核心。许多维拉诺瓦的学生继续就读专业学校或博士学位。计划，学生接触这项技术将使他们为未来的科学和医学。PI和co-PI在指导学生方面有着广泛的记录，包括在同行评议的出版物上指导学生，并为学生接受顶级研究生课程做好准备，MiSeq平台将推动这种学生指导的研究。MiSeq平台将推动具有不同兴趣的实验室的研究，包括生物基因组学和生物地理学，进化和物种形成，微生物生态学对不断变化的环境条件的反应，和细菌病原体的研究。这项技术将在不久的将来被至少5个研究小组在4个主要研究领域中广泛使用：1）mRNA和小RNA转录组的深度测序将解决有关基因如何被调节以控制对压力的反应、营养可用性和激素信号传导以及指导细胞生长和发育的基本问题。这些方法也将支持研究基因调控和营养信号是如何被进化力量重塑的。2）ChIP-Seq和RNA-seq方法将用于理解转录的变化并识别真菌和细菌物种中的转录因子结合位点。3）基因组DNA的靶向测序将用于解决不确定性并提高各种有鳞动物（爬行动物）分类群中系统发育关系的分辨率。这些实验的结果将对这些群体的保护工作产生重要影响，并将促进我们对推动进化和物种形成的力量的理解。4）RNA和DNA测序将用于调查土壤微生物种群，使研究人员能够解决微生物群落的变化如何影响植物生长和养分循环，面对气候变化和养分污染。

An award is made to Villanova University to acquire a next-generation sequencing platformfocused on the Illumina MiSeq instrument. This project will support high-impact researchprograms that span the disciplines of Biology and Biochemistry, and will provide graduate andundergraduate students with hands-on genomics experience using leading-edge technology.Villanova University is a primarily undergraduate institution committed to recruiting and retainingstudents from underrepresented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds, and students of coloraccounted for more than 20% of full-time students in 2013. The University also has an impressiveretention record, with 6 year graduation rates above 85% for all ethnic groups as of 2013. Readyaccess to cutting-edge sequencing technology, and to the interdisciplinary genomics andbioinformatics approaches it facilitates, will support the Biology and Chemistry departments intheir efforts to attract students from underrepresented groups to STEM careers. This equipmentwill allow the transformation of undergraduate and Masters genomics education at Villanova, andwill be a centerpiece of a new course in genomics. Many Villanova students go on to attendprofessional schools or Ph.D. programs, and exposure of students to this technology will preparethem for the science and medicine of the future. The PI and co-PIs have an extensive record ofmentoring students, including students on peer-reviewed publications, and preparing students foracceptance to top graduate programs, and the MiSeq platform will advance this student-directedresearch.The MiSeq platform will advance the research of laboratories with diverse interests that includephylogenomics and phylogeography, evolution and speciation, microbial ecology in response tochanging environmental conditions, and the study of bacterial pathogens. This technology will beroutinely used in the immediate future by at least 5 research groups in 4 main research areas:1) Deep sequencing of the mRNA and small RNA transcriptomes will address fundamentalquestions about how genes are regulated to control responses to stress, nutrientavailability, and hormone signaling, and to direct cellular growth and development. Thesemethods will also support investigation of how gene regulation and nutrient signaling areshaped by evolutionary forces.2) ChIP-Seq and RNA-seq methods will be used to understand changes in transcription andidentify transcription factor binding sites in fungal and bacterial species.3) Targeted sequencing of genomic DNA will be used to resolve uncertainties and increasethe resolution of phylogenetic relationships in a variety of squamate (reptile) taxa. Theresults of these experiments will have important impacts on conservation efforts for thesegroups, and will advance our understanding of the forces that drive evolution andspeciation.4) Sequencing of both RNA and DNA will be used to investigate soil microbial populations,allowing researchers to address how changes in microbial communities impact plantgrowth and nutrient cycling in the face of climate change and nutrient pollution.