A grant has been awarded to Pennsylvania State University under the direction of Dr. Simon Gilroy for the acquisition of multi-photon confocal microscope to be housed in a multi-user microscopy imaging facility. The spectral resolving detector and multi-photon capabilities of the microscope will provide new imaging possibilities currently unavailable on the Penn State campus. The microscope will be used and managed by 5 principal groups. Research projects that will directly benefit from the use of these new imaging approaches fall into the broad categories of: (1) investigating signal perception by plants and (2) understanding the cellular basis of morphogenesis. Examples of specific projects that will be possible due to access to the proposed microscope include: (1) Hormonal-regulation of subnuclear dynamics in guard cells, (2) Detection of G-protein activation in living plant cells, (3) Regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics, (4) Control of mitotic progression by cytoskeletal motors, (5) Signal transduction in plant gravity and touch perception, (6) Regulation of pollen tube tip growth by phospholipase C, (7) Control of meiosis and flower development, and (8) Regulation of cell morphogenesis by cell wall properties.
The provision of a permanent imaging facility at Penn State will greatly enhance the research infrastructure for biological sciences at the University. In addition, the microscope will directly impact on our efforts to provide collaborative and training opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and faculty researchers in advanced fluorescence microscopy. Thus, the microscope will be used to train a range of undergraduate researchers and all our incoming plant biology program graduate students. We will also maintain our commitment to providing research opportunities for scientists from around the world to both learn confocal, and now multi-photon, microscopy and to pursue their research using these tools through collaborations.
