This proposal requests funds to purchase a Typhoon Trio Imager Workstation. This imaging workstation allows for highly sensitive, quantitative data imaging analysis via six different scanning modes - four color fluorescence, phosphorimaging and chemiluminescence detection in a single high throughput system. No other comparable unit is currently available on the main campus of Colorado State University and the user group is currently relying on an outdated and overused Storm phosphorimager located 5 minutes away in the MRB building in a different college of the university. The unit will primarily serve the imaging needs of 65 faculty members of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology which had extramural research funding in 2005 of over $38 million. Since the technologies supported by the Imaging Workstation have become commonplace in molecular biology, the unit will benefit the entire department. Investigators listed in the major user group will use the workstation on approximately a daily basis. The areas of research of the major user group that will be supported by the instrument include bacteriology, post-transcriptional control of gene expression, parasitology, molecular/applied virology and drug discovery. The workstation will also be made available to other research groups in the college and university. The workstation will be supervised and managed by the principal investigator as the centerpiece of a new multi-user data imaging facility in the Microbiology Building. The PI will oversee operation and instruction on the proper use of the workstation, monitoring usage, and developing future sharing agreements with other CSU researchers. Training in ImageQuant, Excel and other applicable software will be provided in order to ensure the device will be used to its full potential by all research groups. The acquisition of the Typhoon Trio will not only increase the overall productivity of the user group, but will also allow the development of novel experimental approaches that would not be feasible without such an instrument. Relevance The purchase of a Typhoon Trio Imager will have a huge impact on the wide range of ongoing research in the Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology Department at Colorado State University. Most significantly, it will facilitate many programs investigating infectious diseases including tuberculosis, leprosy, various viruses (LaCrosse, HIV, Dengue, West Nile Virus), and prion disease by increasing both the speed and sensitivity of data acquisition. ? ? ?
