Optical Biosensor for Marine Microbial Process Studies: Development Phase II

[00:83 . 193]这个技术开发项目将研究现代分子技术如何为海洋微生物群落及其活动提供新的和基本的见解。对微生物过程的研究远远落后于海洋学的技术革命。该项目将应用生物传感器技术，继续开发光纤核酸杂交生物传感器原型，用于快速、定量地检测目标细菌基因的丰度和表达，以及混合微生物群落中目标生物的活性。该生物传感器在设计上是新颖的，在海洋微生物过程研究中的应用，以及在提供自然信号放大以提高灵敏度的RNA靶标的提议中。主要目标是开发一种高度敏感、灵活的仪器，可以应用于广泛的生态问题。原型系统的组件相对便宜，紧凑，操作简单。提取和纯化核酸的程序需要普通的实验室技能，不需要在典型的分子生物学实验室中没有的任何不寻常的设备。所提议的仪器和分析程序的目的是广泛使用，并最终实现自动化，使该系统可用于远程/系泊和持续进行的海洋微生物过程监测。

0083193KempThis technology development project will address how modern molecular techniques can provide new and fundamental insights into marine microbial communities and their activities. Studies of microbial processes have lagged far behind the technological revolution in oceanography. This project, applying biosensor technology, will continue development of a prototype fiber-optic, nucleic acid hybridization biosensor for rapid, quantitative detection of the abundance and expression of targeted bacterial genes, and the activity of targeted organisms in a mixed microbial community. The biosensor is novel in its design, in its application to marine microbial process studies, and in the proposed use of RNA targets that provide a natural signal amplification to increase sensitivity. The mail objective is to develop a highly sensitive, flexible instrument that can be applied to a broad suite of ecological problems. The components of the prototype system are relatively inexpensive, compact, and simple to operate. Procedures for extracting and purifying nucleic acids require ordinary laboratory skills and do not require any unusual equipment not already found in a typical molecular-biology laboratory. It is intended that the proposed instrument and analytical procedures be broadly useful and eventually be automated such that the system would be useful for remote/moored and continuous underway monitoring of marine microbial processes.