Acquisition of an Isotope-Ratio Mass Spectrometer and Moving-Wire Interface for Hydrogen- and Carbon-Isotopic biogeochemistry

这项授予加州理工学院的重大研究仪器奖提供资金，用于购买同位素比质谱仪、具有热解接口的气相色谱仪，用于脂类的氢/氢分析，以及用于RNA等不稳定生物聚合物的13C分析的移动导线接口。移动钢丝接口还没有商业化，将在加州理工学院建造。该仪器将用于支持生物地球化学的两个领域的研究。首先，PI和他的同事们计划使用rRNA靶向探针，将有机材料的同位素分析定向到单个物种的水平。例如，使用rRNA中的13C来跟踪甲烷衍生的碳在进行厌氧甲烷氧化的微生物群落中的流动。第二个研究重点将利用脂类化合物特有的氚/氢同位素比率来研究厌氧沉积物的生物地球化学。拟议中的仪器将用于开发新的同位素方法，并将它们与分子生物学工具相结合，创造新的分析技术，以解决新兴的“地球生物学”领域的研究课题，并将相关应用于从微生物学到有机地球化学等领域。加州理工学院从非联邦资金中为购买设备提供了30%的项目成本份额。这项提议得到了美国国家科学基金会海洋科学部的支持。***

0321339SessionsThis Major Research Instrumentation award to California Institute of Technology provides funds for acquisition of an isotope-ratio mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph with pyrolysis interface for deuterium/hydrogen analyses of lipids, and a moving-wire interface for 13C analyses of involatile biopolymers such as RNA. The moving-wire interface, which is not commercially available, will be built at Caltech. The instrumentation will be used to support two areas of research in biogeochemistry. First, the PI and his colleagues plan to address use of rRNA-targeted probes to direct isotopic analyses of organic materials to the level of individual species. An example would use 13C in rRNA to follow the flow of methane-derived carbon through microbial communities that conduct anaerobic methane oxidation. The second research focus will employ compound-specific deuterium/hydrogen isotopic ratios of lipids to study the biogeochemistry of anaerobic sediments. The proposed instrumentation will be used to develop new isotopic methods and combine them with molecular biological tools, creating new analytical techniques to address research topics in the emerging field of 'geobiology,' with related applications to fields from microbiology to organic geochemistry. Caltech is providing cost-share towards the equipment acquisition of 30% of the project cost from non-federal funds. This proposal is supported by the Division of Ocean Sciences at NSF. ***