Stanford University has been awarded a grant to purchase a confocal scanning laser microscope and establish a related multi-user facility at Hopkins Marine Station (HMS) to serve multiple marine laboratories in the Monterey Bay Peninsula, California. High-resolution imaging is now an essential part of the contemporary tool kit of cell and developmental biological processes. Confocal microscopy, along with advances in fluorescent labeling of protein and nucleic acids, has resulted in unprecedented insights into the 3D architecture and function of cells and tissues of many marine organisms. An important application of this technology is visualization of cellular elements and processes related to early development, physiology, and neurobiology. This technical ability also has broader implications for elucidating the interactions of marine animals with their environment. Ultimately, the environment acts on organisms through its effects on cells and tissues. Ocean acidification, deoxygenation and other processes will alter ecosystems and fisheries through effects on individual organisms. This microscope will help address how the various facets of climate change are impacting critical aspects of the cell/developmental biology and physiology of a variety of marine species.
This piece of equipment will directly benefit 5 research labs at HMS with an immediate potential benefit to 10 graduate students, and provide outstanding undergraduate training opportunities during research training apprenticeships. The microscope will be housed at HMS but be available to researchers and their students at other research institutions in the local area, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute at Moss Landing and California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB). There are many faculty at these institutions with a wide range of research interests who plan to use this microscope upon availability. HMS will partner with CSUMB Bay to create training opportunities on this microscope for the McNair Scholars program for gifted minority students to prepare them for doctoral studies. The image data generated from this equipment will be highlighted in the regular public lectures and open houses at HMS, and on a web-based resource dedicated to early embryogenesis and larval development of marine invertebrates. An imaging collaboration between HMS and the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) will develop a greater public awareness of the diversity of embryos and larvae of marine invertebrates by spotlighting image data using the extensive established outreach mechanisms of the MBA both in formal public exhibits and Facebook postings. For more information about Hopkins Marine Station, visit the website at http://www-marine.stanford.edu/.
The award was made to purchase a confocal microscope at Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University. Confocal microscopy is now an essential tool to investigate cellular function in all animals by using lasers to visualize proteins and nucleic acid localization at the subcellular level. This type of microscope was lacking in the Monterey Bay area and the funded grant provided access to this equipment, not only to Hopkins researchers, but also to researchers at Cal State Monterey, Moss Landing Marine Labs, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the Navel Postgraduate School. We purchased a Zeiss 700 Confocal microscope with these funds. This equipment facilitates high resolution imaging of the basic cellular structure of all animals and plants. This laser scanning microscope now facilitates an unprecedented microscopic exploration of the unique organismal diversity represented in the Monterey Bay environment; from the spectacular rocky intertidal down to the deep Monterey Canyons. Exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium showcase much of the this diversity, however, a full understanding of animal evolution and diversification requires a much more detailed view of the basic cellular building blocks that generate animal specializations of marine animals. Different research groups in the Monterey research community have already begun to use the confocal, which was set up 6 months ago, to address basic research questions on nervous system structure and function, cardiac physiology, jellyfish bioluminescence, the evolution of immunity and coral growth and sensitivity to temperature fluctuation. A training protocol is in place for interested researchers, and the equipment has been used for both graduate student and undergraduate student projects over the summer. Many of the images generated by this equipment are visually striking and informative to a general understanding of biology and will be featured in outreach efforts by individual labs and each institution.
