MRI: Acquisition of a versatile, user-friendly, automated fluorescence microscope to promote research performed by faculty and undergraduates at a Hispanic-serving institution

圣爱德华大学（SEU）获得了最先进的荧光显微镜奖，作为教师指导研究和基于课程的本科生研究经验（CUREs）的一部分。东南大学是一所服务于少数族裔的大学，学生群体多元化，其中许多是第一代大学生。在东南财经大学，教师指导的研究通常是他们第一次接触新的科学研究。这台显微镜的收购通过提高教师赞助的独立研究的质量，增加和加强作为CUREs一部分进行的细胞分子实验的数量，以及扩大涉及奥斯汀社区学院学生和K-12教师和学生的外展项目的类型，改善了研究基础设施。最后，这台显微镜将提供必要的协同作用与其他当前nsf资助的项目在东南大学。荧光显微镜允许检测和分析分子和细胞结构，分子动力学和基因表达，通过广泛使用的荧光团共轭分子和遗传编码的荧光蛋白。该奖项有助于购买显微镜，有利于在受控环境下进行实时成像，对微弱荧光团进行高灵敏度检测，对厚标本进行光学切片和3D图像采集。该仪器使SEU能够研究高度多样化的科学项目：(1)研究土栖线虫细胞代谢调控与神经发育的相互作用；(2)确定宿主细胞与弓形虫病等寄生病原体相互作用的分子机制；(3)了解果蝇卵壳模式变异的分子基础；(4)抗菌植物提取物的细菌靶点研究和益生菌保护作用的研究；(5)植物与真菌在磷酸盐胁迫下的相互作用特征。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to St. Edward's University (SEU) to do state-of-the-art fluorescence microscopy as part of faculty-mentored research and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). SEU is a minority-serving institution with a diverse student body, many of whom are first-generation college students. Faculty-mentored research at SEU is usually their first exposure to novel scientific research. The acquisition of this microscope improves the research infrastructure by promoting the quality of faculty-sponsored independent research, increasing and enhancing the number of cell-molecular experiments performed as part of CUREs, and broadening the types of outreach programs involving Austin Community College students and K-12 teachers and students. Finally, this microscope will provide needed synergy with other current NSF-funded projects at SEU.Fluorescence microscopy allows the detection and analysis of molecular and cellular structures, molecular dynamics, and gene expression through a panoply of widely available fluorophore-conjugated molecules and genetically-encoded fluorescent proteins. This award facilitates the purchase of a microscope that is conducive to live imaging under controlled environments, high-sensitivity detection of faint fluorophores, optical sectioning of thick specimens, and 3D image acquisitions. The instrumentation enables the research of a highly diverse set of scientific programs at SEU: (1) Characterization of the interplay between cellular metabolic regulation and neurodevelopment in soil-dwelling nematodes, (2) Determination of the molecular mechanism underlying interactions between host cells and parasitic pathogens like those causing toxoplasmosis, (3) Understanding the molecular basis of variation for patterning of the egg shell in fruit flies, (4) Investigation of the bacterial targets of antimicrobial plant extracts and examination of the protective action of probiotics, and (5) Characterization of plant-fungal interactions in response to phosphate stress.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.