MRI: Acquisition of a room-temperature transmission electron microscope for FSU

佛罗里达州立大学获得一项奖励，用于购买透射电子显微镜（TEM）。新系统将取代过时的系统，并允许整个FSU校园和周边地区的教师进行积极的研究。新的TEM将使佛罗里达州立大学的共享标本筛选仪器现代化，以简化样品优化，以便在高分辨率冷冻TEM系统上进行最终成像。新的TEM还将扩展生物科学成像资源的服务能力，TEM将被安置在那里。通过开发使用透射电镜成像的动手实验课程，新系统还将促进学生培训，并增强从事研究项目的本科生的使用。新系统的可用性将改善对FSU非常多样化的学生中下一代研究人员的培训，并通过学生在夏季研究项目中使用TEM。新的TEM将支持高分辨率的结构研究，使研究人员能够轻松筛选负染色样品，这是冷冻电镜结构测定的必要步骤。主要用户的研究项目多种多样，并得到校外资金的支持，研究主题包括：硫的生物地球化学循环机制；大型gtpase的结构研究；根瘤菌噬菌体及根瘤菌分子决定因子在植物侵殖效率中的作用了解收缩组织中的分子马达，以及开发高通量3D电子显微镜的工具和方法。用这种仪器进行的研究结果将在同行评议的科学期刊出版物和科学会议上传播。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 Florida State University to support the purchase of a Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). The new system will replace an antiquated system and allow for active research by faculty across the FSU campus and in the surrounding region. The new TEM will modernize Florida State University’s shared specimen screening instrumentation to streamline sample optimization for final imaging on higher-resolution cryo-TEM systems. The new TEM will also expand the service capabilities of the Biological Science Imaging Resource, where the TEM will be housed. Student training will also be advanced by the new system through the development of a hands-on laboratory course that uses TEM imaging and enhanced usage by undergraduates working on research projects. The availability of the new system will improve training for the next generation of researchers from among the very diverse students at FSU, and through the use of the TEM by students in summer research programs. The new TEM will support high-resolution structural studies by allowing researchers to easily screen negatively stained samples, a necessary step on the way to cryo-EM structure determination. The major users’ research programs are diverse and supported by extramural funding for studying topics that include: mechanisms for biogeochemical cycling of sulfur; structural studies of large GTPAses; bacteriophages of rhizobial bacteria and the role of rhizobial molecular determinants in plant host invasion efficiency; understanding molecular motors in contractile tissues, and the development of tools and methods for high-throughput 3D electron microscopy. Results from the research performed with this instrumentation will be disseminated in peer-reviewed scientific journal publications and at scientific meetings.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.