Renewal of essential flow cytometry instrumentation for the study of marine microbes

海洋微生物提供基本的生态系统服务，包括绝大多数海洋初级生产力和向海洋添加大量新氮。为了了解海洋微生物如何支持这些生态系统服务，以及未来可能如何变化，需要对海洋微生物的丰度和物理特性进行高质量的测量。流式细胞术能够通过使细胞流过聚焦光束来对细胞进行计数和表征。光被散射，荧光以特定于每个细胞特征的方式发射。 这使研究人员能够在单细胞水平上确定海洋微生物的丰度，大小和色素含量。在这里，我们要求资金，以取代停产的流式细胞仪，这是大量使用的两个研究小组在过去7年。这种灵敏、坚固、用户友好的仪器的新模型将使这两个大型研究小组能够继续进行以下研究：（1）确定海洋微生物对实验室和野外温度变化的反应，（2）研究谁是重要的氮循环海洋微生物，以及是什么控制着它们的生长和丰度，（3）确定微量营养素和微生物相互作用在控制海洋初级生产者生长中的作用。这些研究的结果将提高我们对未来海洋生产力如何随着地球气候变暖而变化的理解。这对加拿大人很重要，因为海洋生产力与渔业资源的生产和二氧化碳从大气层向深海的移动直接相关。

Marine microbes provide essential ecosystem services, including the vast majority of marine primary productivity and the addition of huge quantities of new nitrogen to the ocean. In order to understand how marine microbes support these ecosystem services, and how that might change in the future, high-quality measurements of the abundance and physical characteristics of marine microbes are required. Flow cytometry enables counting and characterization of cells by flowing them through a beam of focused light. That light is scattered and fluorescence is emitted in a manner that is specific to the characteristics of each cell. This enables researchers to determine the abundance, size and pigment content of marine microbes at the single cell level. Here we request funds to replace a discontinued flow cytometer, which was used heavily by two research groups in the last 7 years. A new model of this sensitive, robust, user-friendly instrument will enable these two large research groups to continue studies that (1) determine the responses of marine microbes to changes in temperature, in the laboratory and in the field, (2) examine who the important nitrogen cycling marine microbes are and what controls their growth and abundance, and (3) determine the role of micronutrients and microbial interactions in controlling the growth of marine primary producers. The results of these studies will enhance our understanding of how productivity in the ocean may change in the future, as the Earth's climate warms. This is important for Canadians because this ocean productivity is directly related to both the production of fisheries resources and to the movement of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep ocean.