High Capacity Microbial Growth Core Facility

我们正在请求财政支持，以购买两个高容量，变温和速度埃彭多夫新不伦瑞克Innova 44孵化器摇床。这些装置将取代两个不再工作或不可修复的20年前的摇床。培养箱摇床是温度控制的生长室，带有变速轨道平台，用于培养细胞、细胞曝气以及表达和溶解性研究。在精确的温度和搅拌速度下培养微生物培养物的能力对几乎所有生物学研究学科都是绝对必要的，特别是当细胞需要生长到特定的生理或代谢状态、培养密度或确保适当的基因表达时。 这两个替代摇床将由12个国际公认的实验室使用，这些实验室包括细胞与系统生物系植物与微生物生物学小组，其中包括约50名研究生、9名博士后研究员和~42名本科生。此外，摇床还被基因组进化与功能分析中心(基因组学和蛋白质组学的核心设施)以及两个CSB本科实验室课程使用，这些课程每年培训约75名本科生。摇床是植物与微生物生物学小组中几乎所有HQP都使用的关键研究基础设施。培养箱摇床对于学习宿主-微生物相互作用或为分子生物学、生物化学和结构生物学实验培养微生物种群的学生来说是必不可少的。如果我们不能更换不起作用的摇床，一些学生将经历非常严重的研究延迟，而另一些学生将根本无法进行他们的研究，因为他们无法培养第二组风险生物。 尽管我们的大楼中有两个额外的摇床可用，但在我们一半的摇床停止使用的情况下，无法提供所需的增长能力，导致非常严重的瓶颈和研究延迟。此外，两个破碎的摇床用于生物安全风险组(RG)1和RG2生物，位于我们大楼4楼的生物危害遏制2级实验室，而其余两个摇床在3楼的实验室，不能对RG2生物进行评级。虽然RG1生物可以在实验室之间谨慎地移动，但RG2生物在没有非常重要的护理的情况下不能运输。因此，如果我们不更换两个坏掉的摇床，就必须在地板之间携带RG1微生物，这是非常有问题的，而且根本不可能与RG2微生物一起工作。最后，这两个正在工作的摇动孵化器是15年前的事情，开始经历失败。这些设备不再受支持，更换部件的来源极其困难，因此它们的寿命即将结束。没有其他大容量孵化器摇床可供选择。

We are requesting financial support to purchase two high-capacity, variable temperature and speed Eppendorf New Brunswick Innova 44 Incubator Shakers. These units will replace two 20 year old shakers that are no longer working or repairable. Incubator shakers are temperature-controlled, growth chambers with a variable speed orbital platform used for growing cell cultures, cell aeration, and expression and solubility studies. The ability to grow microbiological cultures at precise temperatures and agitation rates is absolutely essential for nearly every biological research discipline, particularly when cells need to grow to specific physiological or metabolic states, culture densities, or to ensure proper gene expression. The two replacement shakers will be used by the 12 internationally recognized labs comprising the Plant & Microbial Biology group of the Department of Cell & Systems Biology, which includes ~50 graduate students, 9 postdoctoral fellow, and ~42 undergraduate students. Additional the shaking incubators are also used by the Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution & Function (a genomics and proteomics core facility), and two CSB undergraduate laboratory courses that train ~75 undergraduates every year. The shakers are a critical piece of research infrastructure that is used by nearly all HQP in the Plant & Microbial Biology group. Incubator shakers are essential for students studying host-microbe interactions or growing microbiological stocks for molecular biology, biochemistry, and structural biology experiments. If we are not able to replace the non-functional shakers, some students will experience very significant research delays, while other students will not be able to perform their research at all due to their inability to grow risk group 2 organisms. Although there are two additional shakers available in our building, there is no way to provide the needed growth capacity with half of our shakers out of service, resulting in very significant bottlenecks and research delays. Further, the two broken shakers were used for both biosafety risk group (RG) 1 and RG2 organisms, and are located in a biohazard containment level 2 laboratory located on the 4th floor of our building, while the two remaining shakers are in a 3rd floor lab that cannot be rated for RG2 organisms. While RG1 organisms can be moved between labs with precautions, RG2 organisms cannot be transported without very significant care. Consequently, if we do not replace the two broken shakers it will be necessary to carry RG1 organisms between floors, which is highly problematic, and it will simply be impossible to work with RG2 organisms. Finally, the two working shaking incubators are 15 years ago and starting to experience failures. These units are no longer supported and replacement parts are extremely difficult to source, so they are coming to the end of their life span. No other large-capacity incubator shaker are available.