Acquisition of a Confocal Microscope

项目摘要 圣路易斯唐纳德丹佛斯植物科学中心的霍华德贝格博士获得了一笔赠款，用于购买共聚焦显微镜。 丹佛斯中心分子生物学研究的一个重要组成部分是分析活细胞中蛋白质分子的功能。 由这笔赠款资助的显微镜是蔡司LSM 510 NLO Meta，是一种强大的成像蛋白质及其在活细胞中的功能的仪器。共聚焦显微镜产生的图像具有更高的对比度和更高的分辨率，这对于细胞生物学的分析至关重要。 共聚焦显微镜的另一个不可或缺的功能是它能够通过活细胞获得光学切片的“堆栈”，然后可以用于重建三维图像，从而可以在细胞的三维空间中研究蛋白质。蔡司LSM 510还可以进行光谱成像，增加了分析分子发出的光的维度。这是一个复杂的工具，用于同时跟踪许多光谱相似的荧光蛋白和染料的行为，并定量测量蛋白质的相互作用和细胞中的生理过程。 该设备将被安置在丹佛斯中心的综合显微镜设施，在应用新的显微镜技术研究植物细胞的领导者。 丹佛斯中心是一个非营利性的植物科学研究机构，拥有数百名植物科学家，其中将有本科生，研究生，博士后和高级人员带来将使用仪器的项目。 丹福思人员目前将使用该设备的项目包括：植物病原病毒的细胞和分子生物学研究植物细胞感染过程中的Rab蛋白（双病毒属和双生病毒属）; Rab蛋白介导的植物细胞膜运输的研究;涉及调节植物茎尖发育的蛋白质的分析;线虫诱导的巨细胞的膜生物学;研究大豆组织中大豆过敏原的发展;调查植物病原病毒在其蚜虫载体中的结合位点;调查参与核酸代谢的酶复合物;以及研究植物疫苗产生的抗原，以调查其在哺乳动物组织中的靶向。 来自研究植物生物学的地区研究所的科学家，包括华盛顿大学、密苏里州植物园和密苏里-哥伦比亚大学，将利用这一仪器。 丹福思中心是使用分子科学的现代工具来改善农业和人类健康和营养的领导者。 由该基金资助的共聚焦显微镜将对我们理解植物细胞的分子生物学目标至关重要。

PROJECT ABSTRACT A grant has been awarded to Dr. Howard Berg at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, to acquire a confocal microscope. An essential component of molecular biology research at the Danforth Center is to analyze the function of protein molecules within the context of the living cell. The microscope to be funded by this grant, a Zeiss LSM 510 NLO Meta, is a powerful instrument for imaging proteins and their function in living cells. The confocal microscope produces images of much higher contrast and improved resolution, critical for the analysis of cellular biology. Another indispensable feature of the confocal microscope is its ability to acquire "stacks" of optical sections through a living cell, which then can be used to reconstruct three dimensional images, allowing the study of proteins in three dimensional space of the cell. The Zeiss LSM 510 also does spectral imaging, giving the added dimension of analyzing the kind o f light emitted from molecules. This is a sophisticated tool for simultaneously tracking the behavior of many spectrally similar fluorescent proteins and dyes simultaneously, and for quantitatively measuring the interaction of proteins and also physiological processes in cells. The equipment will be housed in the Danforth Center's Integrated Microscopy Facility, a leader in applying new microscopy technology to the study of plant cells. The Danforth Center is a non-profit plant science research institute home to several hundred plant scientists and from these there will be undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, and senior personnel bringing projects that will use the instrumentation. The current projects from Danforth personnel that will use this equipment include: investigation of the cell and molecular biology of plant pathogenic viruses (tobamoviruses and geminiviruses) during infection of plant cells; investigation of Rab protein-mediated membrane trafficking in plant cells; analysis of proteins involved in regulating plant development in the shoot apex; membrane biology of giant cells induced by nematodes; study of the development of soybean allergen in soybean tissue; investigation of the binding sites of plant pathogenic viruses in their aphid vectors; investigation of enzyme complexes involved in nucleic acid metabolism; and study of antigens produced by plant vaccines to investigate their targeting in mammalian tissue. Scientists from regional institutes studying plant biology, including Washington University, Missouri Botanical Gardens, and the University of Missouri-Columbia, will make use of the instrument. The Danforth Center is a leader in using modern tools of molecular science to improve agriculture and human health and nutrition. The confocal microscope funded by this grant will be critical in our goal to understand the molecular biology of plant cells.