Motorized microscope stage

细胞生活在一个环境条件不断变化的世界中。例如，水的酸度（pH值）在不同的位置可能会有很大的变化。然而，细胞需要稳定的内部pH值，以便有效地进行所需的各种生化反应。为了实现这一点，真菌和植物细胞使用细胞膜上的质子ATP酶输出氢离子。它的活性平衡内部代谢活动和外部环境，以维持稳定的内部环境和跨膜质子梯度，以驱动其他转运蛋白。虽然我们对这种质子泵的性质了解得很好，但我们不了解它在维持pH稳态方面的详细调节。我们以前在fistula yeast上发表过这个系统。一个强有力的方法来确定参与这些调控途径的基因是一个接一个地突变它们，并调查对过程的影响。一个全基因组的基因缺失组的裂变酵母刚刚成为可用的，这将使我们能够检查这个问题。由于它包含数千种菌株，自动化设备将极大地促进分析。要求的自动显微镜载物台将允许我们使用荧光探针检测细胞的内部pH值来筛选这些菌株中的每一种。到目前为止，还没有在任何系统中实施这样的项目。这将使我们能够确定哪些基因和途径影响pH稳态，并随后针对这些基因进行更详细的努力。

Cells live in a world with changing environmental conditions. For instance, the acidity (pH) of water may vary dramatically in different locations. Cells however, require a stable internal pH in order to efficiently carry out the various biochemical reactions required. To accomplish this, fungal and plant cells export hydrogen ions using a proton ATPase at the cell membrane. It's activity balances internal metabolic activity and the external environment to maintain a stable internal environment and a proton gradient across the membrane to drive other transporters. Although we understand the nature of this proton pump quite well, we do not understand its detailed regulation in maintaining pH homeostasis. We have previously published on this system in fission yeast. A powerful way to define the genes involved in these regulatory pathways is to mutate them one by one and investigate the impact on a process. A genome wide gene deletion set for fission yeast has just become available which will allow us to examine this problem. Since it contains thousands of strains, automated equipment will  facilitate the analysis enormously. The automated microscope stage requested will allow us to screen each of these strains using a fluorescent probe which detects the internal pH of the cell. Such a project has not been carried out in any system to date. This will let us determine which genes and pathways affect pH homeostasis and subsequently to target more detailed efforts on those genes.