FSML: Acquisition of instrumentation at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography to establish a Laboratory for Imaging Microbial Ecology (LIME)

海洋微生物是所有海洋生态系统的重要组成部分，在调节碳和营养物质如何在海洋中流动方面发挥着核心作用。这一设施改进项目将加强格鲁吉亚大学斯基德韦海洋学研究所（SkIO; http://www.skio.uga.edu/）通过升级和购置仪器，在海洋微生物生态学和生物地球化学领域进行创新研究的能力。资金将用于扩大现有流式细胞仪设备的能力，以更好地枚举小微生物，以及获得可以基于图像识别软件对微生物进行可视化和分类的新设备。此外，还将购买一套能够测量藻类光合参数的仪器。这些仪器将增强从纳米到毫米尺度（从病毒到中浮游动物）研究微生物相互作用的能力，并将在SkIO建立一个新的综合分析设施，称为成像微生物生态学实验室（LIME）。LIME的创建将使SkIO能够推进生物海洋学的基础研究，同时使该研究所成为跨学科生态和生物地球化学研究的区域灯塔。枚举、可视化和评估不同大小和营养水平的微生物生理状态的能力对于进一步了解海洋微生物之间的相互作用以及这些相互作用如何影响生物地球化学过程至关重要。通过该项目，SkIO将获得FlowCam®，荧光诱导和松弛（FIRe）仪器和Zooscan系统，并将扩展现有的两台流式细胞仪（CytoSense和Guava EasyCyte 5HT）的功能。该设备将帮助SkIO建立高通量培养实验的能力，增强微生物的可视化，提高样品分析的自动化程度，并提高在大范围颗粒/生物体尺寸范围内测量重要生理参数的能力。图像可以捕捉到现场的交互作用，个体的列举可以揭示特定交互作用的结果。这些观测对于从体积速率测量转向空间和营养尺度上的机制和速率的联系至关重要。此外，通过加强科学研究的基础设施，该项目将通过SkIO现有的项目增加教育机会，包括：大学本科课程，暑期本科生实习，以及与HBCU的教育推广项目。此外，这项新技术将有助于加强与区域研究联盟的合作和伙伴关系，并在当地社区的年度海洋科学日期间使用。

Marine microbes are an essential component of all marine ecosystems, and play a central role in mediating how carbon and nutrients flow through the ocean. This facilities improvement project will enhance the capacity of the University of Georgia's Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (SkIO; http://www.skio.uga.edu/) to conduct innovative research in the area of marine microbial ecology and biogeochemistry by the upgrade and acquisition of instrumentation. Funds will be utilized to expand the capabilities of the current flow cytometry equipment to better enumerate small microbes, as well as to acquire new equipment that can visualize and classify microbes based on image recognition software. Additionally, an instrument that has the capacity to measure a suite of algal photosynthetic parameters will be purchased. These instruments will enhance the ability to investigate microbial interactions from the nanometer though millimeter scales (from viruses to mesozooplankton) and will anchor a new integrated analytical facility at SkIO called the Laboratory for Imaging Microbial Ecology (LIME). The creation of LIME will allow SkIO to advance fundamental research in biological oceanography, while making the Institution a regional beacon for interdisciplinary ecological and biogeochemical studies.The ability to enumerate, visualize, and assess the physiological status of microbes across a range of sizes and trophic levels is critical to furthering a mechanistic understanding of the interactions among marine microbes, and how these interactions impact biogeochemical processes. With this project, SkIO will acquire a FlowCam®, a Fluorescence Induction and Relaxation (FIRe) instrument, and Zooscan system, and will expand the capabilities of two existing flow cytometers (CytoSense and Guava EasyCyte 5HT). This equipment will help SkIO build the capacity for high-throughput cultivation experiments, enhance visualization of microbes, improve the automation of sample analysis, and advance the ability to measure important physiological parameters over a large range of particle/organism sizes. Images can capture interactions in situ, and enumeration of individuals can reveal outcomes of a particular interaction. These observations are essential for moving beyond bulk rate measurements towards the linkage of mechanisms and rates along both spatial and trophic scales. In addition, by enhancing infrastructure for scientific research, this project will enhance educational opportunities through established programs currently at SkIO including: university undergraduate courses, summer undergraduate internships, and educational outreach programs with HBCU's. Further, this new technology will help strengthen collaborations and partnerships with regional research consortiums, and be used during an annual Marine Science Day for the local community.