Funds are requested to acquire a state-of-the-art transmission electron microscope (TEM) with cryo capacity. This instrument package will be used by a diverse group of highly productive scientists form the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Microbiology, Biology, Veterinary and Molecular Biology, and Plant Sciences. During the past 10 years there has been a five-fold increase in the research activity at the Montana State University-Bozeman campus. Concatenate with this increase has been an increase in demand for TEM time and capacity. During the past 6 years there has been a three-fold increase in demand for biological TEM services. Unfortunately we are currently not able to meet the demand for TEM services. Moreover, the existing TEM capacity is nearly 20 years old and lacks cryo ability which cannot be upgraded. The two significant advantages of a new cryo TEM facility to the MSU research community are 1) to provide a much needed expanded capacity to perform cryo TEM for numerous biological applications 2) to provide a robust and reliable TEM capacity for a rapidly expanding MSU research community. The specific advantages of the proposed cryo TEM package include: Cryo-fixation of the specimens allows its structure and chemical composition to be maintained close to its natural state. Expanded imaging capacity to include CCD-based digital imaging and direct imaging through the projection chamber's fluorescent screen and platefilm. The ability to further expand the TEM capacity to include spectrum profiling and spectrum imaging (STEM, EDS, and EELS detectors and energy filters). In summary, the acquisition of a state-of-the-art TEM with cryo capacity will directly impact the research of the investigators included in this proposal, as well as a large group of secondary investigators from departments across the MSU campus. This will enable these outstanding researchers to keep pace with the expanding use of cryo-TEM in biological research.
