Purchase of an Oligonucleotide-Based Microarray System

该合同提供资金用于购买寡核苷酸微阵列系统以及计算机设备和软件，这些设备和软件将有助于分析微阵列获得的数据。这种类型的设备可用于确定生物体中选定基因的表达率，如果生物体的基因组序列已知，甚至可用于确定所有基因的表达率。这些设备将由七名教师、他们的学生和研究助理共享。在这7个项目中，5个将使用基因芯片技术来研究拟南芥模型的植物发育和发病机制，1个将使用它来研究小鼠，1个将开发改进的信息学工具来分析微阵列数据。这些设备将被放置在一个核心设施中，允许提案中提到的七个以外的教师使用，也可以用于学生的高级课程。利用微阵列对基因表达的全局模式进行分析，可用于识别与发育阶段、不同组织、对环境刺激或感染的反应相关的基因。这些研究有助于将功能分配给未表征的基因，并将导致识别负责正常和改变生长和分化控制的调节网络。

This award provides funds to aid in purchase of an oligonucleotide microarray system together with computer equipment and software that will aid in analysis of data obtained with microarrays. Equipment of this type can be used to determine the rate of expression of selected genes in an organism, or even that of all genes if the sequence of the organism's genome is known. The equipment will be shared by seven faculty and by their students and research associates. Of the seven, five will use the GeneChip technology to study plant development and pathogenesis using the arabidopsis model, one will use it for studies of the mouse, and one will develop improved informatics tools for analysis of microarray data. The equipment will be placed in a core facility that will allow its use by faculty other than the seven mentioned in the proposal, as well as its use in advanced courses for students.The analysis of global patterns of gene expression made possible by use of microarrays can be used to identify genes associated with developmental stages, different tissues, response to environmental stimuli or to infection. Such studies facilitate the assignment of function to uncharacterized genes, and will lead to the identification of the regulatory networks responsible for normal and altered control of growth and differentiation.