SHARED ELECTRON MICROSCOPE WITH CRYO-CAPACITY

要求拨款购买一台具有低温能力的最先进的透射电子显微镜。该仪器包将由化学和生物化学、微生物学、生物学、兽医和分子生物学以及植物科学系的各种高产科学家使用。在过去的十年里，蒙大拿州立大学博兹曼校区的研究活动增加了五倍。与此相关的是对TEM时间和容量的需求增加。在过去6年中，对生物TEM服务的需求增加了三倍。不幸的是，我们目前无法满足TEM服务的需求。此外，现有的TEM能力已近20年，缺乏低温能力，无法升级。对于密歇根州立大学研究界来说，新的低温TEM设备有两个显著的优势：1)为许多生物应用提供急需的扩展能力；2)为快速扩展的密歇根州立大学研究界提供强大可靠的低温TEM能力。提出的冷冻TEM包的具体优点包括：冷冻固定的标本允许其结构和化学成分保持接近其自然状态。扩大成像能力，包括基于ccd的数字成像和通过投影室的荧光屏和平板胶片直接成像。能够进一步扩展TEM的能力，包括光谱分析和光谱成像（STEM、EDS和EELS探测器和能量滤波器）。总之，获得最先进的具有低温能力的TEM将直接影响本提案中包括的研究人员的研究，以及密歇根州立大学校园内各部门的一大批二级研究人员。这将使这些杰出的研究人员能够跟上冷冻透射电镜在生物学研究中的广泛应用。

Funds are requested to acquire a state-of-the-art transmission electron microscope (TEM) with cryo capacity. This instrument package will be used by a diverse group of highly productive scientists form the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Microbiology, Biology, Veterinary and Molecular Biology, and Plant Sciences. During the past 10 years there has been a five-fold increase in the research activity at the Montana State University-Bozeman campus. Concatenate with this increase has been an increase in demand for TEM time and capacity. During the past 6 years there has been a three-fold increase in demand for biological TEM services. Unfortunately we are currently not able to meet the demand for TEM services. Moreover, the existing TEM capacity is nearly 20 years old and lacks cryo ability which cannot be upgraded. The two significant advantages of a new cryo TEM facility to the MSU research community are 1) to provide a much needed expanded capacity to perform cryo TEM for numerous biological applications 2) to provide a robust and reliable TEM capacity for a rapidly expanding MSU research community. The specific advantages of the proposed cryo TEM package include: Cryo-fixation of the specimens allows its structure and chemical composition to be maintained close to its natural state. Expanded imaging capacity to include CCD-based digital imaging and direct imaging through the projection chamber's fluorescent screen and platefilm. The ability to further expand the TEM capacity to include spectrum profiling and spectrum imaging (STEM, EDS, and EELS detectors and energy filters). In summary, the acquisition of a state-of-the-art TEM with cryo capacity will directly impact the research of the investigators included in this proposal, as well as a large group of secondary investigators from departments across the MSU campus. This will enable these outstanding researchers to keep pace with the expanding use of cryo-TEM in biological research.