MRI-R2: Acquisition of a High-Speed Sorting Flow Cytometer for Multi-User Environmental Microbiology Research

该奖项由2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助。该主要研究仪器-复苏和再投资（MRI-R2）奖资助杜克大学海洋实验室为多用户环境微生物学研究购买高速分选流式细胞仪。流式细胞术与其他技术相比具有明显的优势，包括：能够在短时间内对大量细胞进行计数和表征（~ 50，000个细胞/秒）;能够同时测量多种特性（大小、颜色或使用探针的特定遗传（DNA/RNA）或蛋白质成分）;以及分选和收集单个细胞或细胞群用于附加下游分析的能力。 这一工具所支持的研究包括海洋微生物的计数、遗传和生物化学特征，在环境污染物背景下对海洋和淡水微生物的评估，对从保护感兴趣的高等生物中收获的细胞的分析，以及对藻类用于生物燃料和动物蛋白质的可再生和碳中性生产的研究。 该细胞仪使杜克大学卫星校区的现代环境微生物学研究成为可能，并为具有类似研究兴趣的其他地区大学提供访问和基础设施。除了发展研究基础设施，仪器设施是不可或缺的教学在杜克大学和邻近机构，允许在本科，专业硕士和研究生教育纳入尖端技术。杜克大学的本科生和研究生课程列表直接受益于该设施，包括生物海洋学，遗传学和分子生物学，环境分子工具和海洋生态系统分析等。该设施还将提供给本科生独立学习研究以及研究生的论文研究。新设备所带来的研究结果将通过学生和教师在区域和国家会议上的介绍以及在同行评审期刊上发表来传播。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Major Research Instrumentation-Recovery and Reinvestment (MRI-R2) award funds the acquisition of a high-speed sorting flow cytometer for multi-user environmental microbiology research at the Duke University Marine Laboratory. Flow cytometry offers distinct advantages over other techniques, including: the ability to count and characterize large numbers of cells in short times (~50,000 cells/sec); the ability to simultaneously measure multiple properties (size, color or specific genetic (DNA/RNA) or protein constituents using probes) of individual cells and therefore populations; and the ability to sort and collect individual cells or populations of cells for additional downstream analyses. Research enabled by this instrument includes the enumeration and genetic and biochemical characterization of marine microbes, the evaluation of marine and freshwater microbes in the context of environmental pollutants, the analysis of cells harvested from higher organisms of interest to conservation, and the study of algae for the renewable and carbon-neutral production of biofuels and animal protein. The cytometer enables modern environmental microbiology research at a satellite campus of Duke University, and provides access and infrastructure for other regional universities with similar research interests. Beyond developing research infrastructure, the instrument facility is integral to teaching at Duke University and neighboring institutions, allowing incorporation of cutting edge techniques in undergraduate, professional masters and graduate student education. A list of undergraduate and graduate courses at Duke University that directly benefit from this facility includes Biological Oceanography, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Environmental Molecular Tools, and Analysis of Ocean Ecosystems among others. The facility is also to be made available for undergraduate independent study research as well as thesis research by graduate students. Results from the studies enabled by the new equipment will be disseminated by student and faculty presentations at regional and national meetings, and through publication in peer-reviewed journals.