MRI: Acquisition of an Ion Torrent PGM Sequencer for Research and Education

该重大研究仪器（MRI）奖资助了Ion Torrent个人基因组机器（Ion PGM）测序仪的收购，以实现爱达荷州州立大学（ISU）分子研究核心设施的下一代测序。下一代测序技术使实验成为可能，直到最近，几乎不可能在ISU规模的机构中进行，并为研究人员提供了一种方法来确定给定时间内生物体中所有DNA和RNA的确切序列。了解生物体在正常和扰动状态下如何发挥功能并与环境相互作用是生物和医学研究人员的主要目标。ISU的Ion PGM将使研究人员能够探索单个微生物和复杂群落的生理学和基因组学，重点是生物能源和生物修复;使用地理和人口模型重建太平洋岛屿环境中的人类殖民和适应;确定作物中纤维，抗氧化剂和脂肪酸基因的变异;确定植物对气候变化的生理生态反应的遗传成分;鉴定与微生物辐射抗性相关的基因;以及分析水生系统中暴露于精神活性药物污染的模式生物的基因表达模式。这些研究的结果将在科学会议上提出，发表在同行评审的期刊上，并存入公共数据库，以供生物研究界使用。此外，通过他们的研究活动和指导研究生和本科生，共同PI深深致力于为莎士比亚提供培训机会。ISU分子研究核心设施在与地区教育K-12机构，本科院校，联邦研究实验室和生物技术公司联系方面有着悠久的历史，以鼓励更广泛地参与科学并促进下一代研究科学家的培训和发展。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) award funds the acquisition of an Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (Ion PGM) sequencer to enable next-generation sequencing at the Molecular Research Core Facility of Idaho State University (ISU). Next-generation sequencing technology enables experiments that were, until recently, virtually impossible to perform at institutions the size of ISU, and provides a way for the researcher to determine the exact sequence of all the DNA and RNAs in an organism at a given time. Understanding how organisms function and interact with their environment in normal and perturbed states is a major goal of biological and medical researchers. The Ion PGM at ISU will enable researchers to explore physiology and genomics of individual microbes and complex communities, with emphasis on bioenergy and bioremediation; reconstruct human colonization and adaptation in Pacific Island environments using phylogeographic and demographic models; identify variation in genes for fiber, antioxidants and fatty acids in crop plants; identify genetic components of plant ecophysiological responses to climate change; identify genes associated with microbial radiation resistance; and profile gene expression patterns in model organisms exposed to psychoactive pharmaceutical contamination in aquatic systems. The results from these studies will be presented at scientific conferences, published in peer-reviewed journals and deposited in public databases for the benefit of the biological research community. Furthermore, through their research activities and mentorship of graduate and undergraduate students, the co-PIs are deeply committed to providing training opportunities for Idahoans. The ISU Molecular Research Core Facility has a long history of reaching out to regional educational K-12 institutions, undergraduate institutions, Federal research labs and biotechnology companies, to encourage broader participation in science and promote the training and development of the next generation of research scientists.