This award supports the acquisition of a laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM) to enhance research in cellular and molecular biosciences at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Research projects that will utilize the instrumentation include: (1) activation and movement of viruses from cell to cell in birds and plants, (2) resolving chromosomal organization, kinetochore-chormosomal interactions and chromosome breakage in yeast, Drosophila, and mice, (3) protein targeting and transport in plant cells, (4) cellular interactions between immune cells and pigment cells, and (5) reproductive tract development in birds. The instrument will greatly expand the research opportunities for biology faculty and their graduate and undergraduate research students, and the potential also exists for use of the instrument by researchers in the Departments of Chemistry and Physics to evaluate biosensors and films used in biological nanotechnology. The LSCM will be fully incorporated into undergraduate and graduate research and teaching programs.
