MRI: Acquisition of a Normal Phase Single Quadrupole High Performance Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (HPLC-MS) for Innovative Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironmental Research

收购高效液相色谱-质谱仪将支持圣母大学梅丽莎·伯克教授及其同事禤浩焯·罗查和杰森·麦克拉克兰领导的环境研究和教育活动。高效液相色谱-质谱仪将被配置用于最先进的微生物膜脂分析，优化以获得最佳的重复性和分辨率，这些创新已经显著改变了古气候学和古生态领域。高效液相色谱-质谱仪推动了快速、灵敏和更经济的化合物检测的发展，这些化合物很难使用早期的方法和仪器进行测量。该仪器的收购加强了该大学和中西部地区的研究基础设施，此外还促进了多学科合作。该工具将通过让来自不同背景的本科生和研究生参与进来，帮助扩大参与范围，他们可以使用这一分析工具，并由此产生环境变化研究的代理。这种新仪器将可供巴黎圣母院和其他地方的其他研究人员使用。该奖项支持在圣母大学购买一台用于微生物膜脂-甘油二烷基甘油四醚(GDGTS)测量的新型高效液相色谱-质谱仪(HPLC-MS)。Quad高效液相色谱-质谱仪将在正常状态下运行，有溶剂洗脱液，有一个大气压化学电离(APCI)源，一个可以串联多个柱的恒温柱，一个用于制备模式的馏分收集器，以及一个自动进样器。高效液相色谱-质谱仪的改进推动了对高相对分子质量和极性化合物的快速、灵敏和更经济的检测的发展。此外，微生物生态学和有机地球化学方面的最新进展扩大了我们对微生物脂类合成和空间分布的了解，特别是关于细菌和古细菌的膜脂，称为GDGT，这是地球上最普遍的一些脂类。总而言之，这些在分析化学方面的创新和对微生物过程的理解导致了代理开发，使用GDGT的分布和丰度来革命性地进行与环境条件变化有关的研究，这对理解古气候学至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The acquisition of a high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS) will support environmental research and educational activities led by Professor Melissa Berke and colleagues Adrian Rocha and Jason McLachlan at the University of Notre Dame. The HPLC-MS will be configured for state-of-the-art microbial membrane lipid analysis, optimized for the best reproducibility and resolution, innovations that have significantly changed the fields of paleoclimatology and paleoecology. HPLC-MS has propelled the growth of rapid, sensitive, and more economical detection of compounds that are harder to measure using earlier methods and instrumentation. The acquisition of this instrument strengthens the research infrastructure at the university and within the Midwest and in addition promotes multi-disciplinary collaborations. The instrument will help broaden participation by involving undergraduate and graduate students from diverse backgrounds who can use this analytical tool and resulting proxies in environmental change research. The new instrument will be available for use by other researchers at Notre Dame and beyond. The award supports the acquisition a new high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS) for measurement of microbial membrane lipids, glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) at the University of Notre Dame. The Single Quad HPLC-MS will run in normal phase with solvent eluents, have an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) source, a thermostatted column compartment that can fit multiple columns in tandem, a fraction collector for preparative mode, and an autosampler. Improvements in HPLC-MS have propelled the growth of rapid, sensitive, and more economical detection of higher molecular weight and polar compounds. Further, recent advances in microbial ecology and organic geochemistry have expanded our understanding of microbial lipid synthesis and spatial distribution, particularly with respect to membrane lipids of Bacteria and Archaea, known as GDGTs, some of the most ubiquitous lipids on Earth. Together, these innovations in analytical chemistry and understanding of microbial processes have led to proxy development using GDGT distributions and abundances to revolutionize research pertaining to changing environmental conditions, critical to understanding paleoclimatology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.