A Confocal Microscope for Cell and Developmental Biology Research

该申请要求资金用于购买与尼康显微镜集成的Bio-Rad共聚焦系统。该设施的七个主要用户是罗切斯特大学生物系的初级和高级教师，所有人都由国家拨款机构（NSF，NIH，USDA）资助。用户目前的方案涉及开展以下方面的研究：发育中的生物体（果蝇、海胆、拟南芥）的命运规范、细胞间相互作用和形态发生;细胞骨架要素在细胞和生物体功能中的作用;核运输机制;以及基因组包装的调节。这些项目统一使用分子，遗传和/或生物化学技术来询问特定基因产物如何影响细胞和发育过程。为了进行定量，动态分析和共定位研究，所有这些项目现在都需要一个共焦显微镜系统，该系统：1）可靠且易于许多人使用; 2）具有多种类型的光学器件; 3）在激发和发射波长方面具有灵活性; 4）在Z和X/Y轴上具有出色的分辨率。图像分析软件，允许进一步量化和共焦数据的操作也被要求。 作为生物系的成员，所有的用户也参与了本科生和研究生的教育，在正式和非正式的设置。在所描述的每个研究项目的背景下，所要求的仪器将用于研究生和博士后的培训。该仪器还将用于本科课程和推广计划的演示，以及先进的实验室课程和独立的本科研究项目的实践经验。

This application requests funds for the purchase of a Bio-Rad confocal system integrated with a Nikon microscope. The seven major users of this facility are junior and senior faculty in the Department of Biology at the University of Rochester, and all are funded from national granting agencies (NSF, NIH, USDA). The current programs of the users involve carrying out studies on fate specification, cell-cell interactions and morphogenesis in developing organisms (Drosophila, sea urchins, Arabidopsis); the role of cytoskeletal elements in cellular and organismal functions; the mechanisms of nuclear transport; and regulation of genome packaging. These projects are unified in using molecular, genetic and/or biochemical techniques to ask how specific gene products influence cellular and developmental processes. In order to carry out quantitation, dynamic analysis and co-localization studies, all of these projects now require a confocal microscope system which is: 1) reliable and easily used by a number of individuals; 2) has multiple types of optics; 3) has flexibility in the excitation and emission wavelengths; and 4) has excellent resolution in the Z and X/Y axes. Image analysis software that allows further quantification and manipulation of the confocal data is also requested. As members of the Department of Biology, all of the users are also involved in education of undergraduate and graduate students in both formal and informal settings. In the context of each of the research projects described, the requested instrumentation will be used by graduate students and postdoctorals in training. The instrumentation will also be employed for demonstrations in undergraduate courses and outreach programs, and for hands-on experiences- in advanced laboratory courses and independent undergraduate research projects.