Multimodal Microplate Reader for Research in Microbiology and Immunology

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This grant application is to acquire a multifunctional plate reader instrument that will be shared by eleven highly active research laboratories in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Western Ontario. This equipment is urgently needed and essential to maintain our collective productivity as it is heavily utilized by all of the co-applicants' laboratories. The instrument allows for the ability to quantitatively read fluorescence, luminescence and optical density from biological samples and is able to measure many samples in parallel within a single experiment. This can be done under both temperature and atmosphere controlled conditions, as well as with time course experiments that are critical for many of our research programs. These investigators will use this technology to study a number of important areas including gene regulation studies, mechanisms by how bacteria colonize mucosal surfaces, cell biological approaches to study phagocytosis and protein trafficking, new ways to inhibit the HIV virus, and developmental aspects of the immune system. The research produced from these investigators is expected to result in the advanced training of ~70 Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) trainees, contributing to many independent and collaborative research projects, and leading to the advancement of fundamental information for both microorganisms and the immune system.