An award is made to St. Lawrence University (SLU) to acquire a confocal microscopy system. Many modern cellular and molecular biology techniques use natural fluorescence, fluorescently tagged molecules, or fluorescent dyes to label specific cellular components. A confocal microscope is an instrument that uses lasers to produce high resolution images of cellular and subcellular components within living and fixed cells that have been labeled with one or more fluorescent molecules. In addition, 3D reconstructions of these fluorescent structures can be created using a series of images collected by the confocal microscope as it focuses down through a specimen. Consequently, this instrument has the resolving power to address many types of biological problems including identifying cell types, cellular localization of specific molecules, determining gene expression, and examining cell differentiation. The research faculty involved in this project require the enhanced flexibility of use and special capabilities (e.g., UV laser, spectral detector, and environmental chamber) of this confocal system to obtain quality images of their work for their contributions to their scientific fields, including publications, national and international meeting presentations, student training, and other applications. Thus, this award will broaden research, training, and teaching opportunities both at SLU and the Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley Consortium. Acquisition of this instrument will expand the existing partnership between SLU and Clarkson University (CU), especially increasing summer fellowship projects for CSTEP and McNair Scholars; two programs that support students from populations underrepresented in STEM. In addition, the new microscope will fuel outreach activities for dozens of K-12 teachers, students, and community members in our economically disadvantaged, rural region of northern New York.
A Nikon C2+ spectral imaging confocal microscope system with wide field camera and environmental chamber systems and specialized capabilities will support and expand current and future research, teaching, and undergraduate training activities of STEM faculty and students at the Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley (SLU, Clarkson, SUNY Potsdam, and SUNY Canton), a higher education consortium in upstate New York. The new instrument will augment the research and scholarly contributions of research faculty and enhance teaching and training activities of eleven faculty and science professionals in cell and developmental biology and ecology and evolution, including the PI and Co-PIs' projects, which focus on the theme of subcellular trafficking and tissue localization of specific molecules during development. The acquisition of this confocal microscope will provide the flexibility important for all users to achieve successful imaging with their respective biological systems of study, while also being easy to use and having a relatively low cost infrastructure. In particular, this system will allow research faculty to explore the biological effects of cerium oxide nanoparticles; gene expression in cheilostome bryozoans; and the essential role of the evolutionarily conserved IME4 mRNA methyltransferase in metazoan development. High-resolution imaging is required to publish in high profile cell and molecular biology journals, and confocal microscopy is now the expected minimal standard for publishing microscopy-based research using fluorescence. Specifically, this instrument will positively impact the relatively new field of cerium oxide nanoparticles, as the new system will enable Drs. Erlichman and Estevez to characterize how the chemistry of cerium oxide nanoparticles influences their cellular trafficking and whether cellular localization influences pro-oxidant vs antioxidant effects. Body axes are determined multiple times during the bryozoan life cycle (embryogenesis, metamorphosis, and asexual budding). Using the proposed instrument, Dr. Temkin will acquire data on Hox gene expression during two different patterns of asexual budding. These data will provide a foundation to examine Hox gene expression at other points in the bryozoan life cycle. Lastly, a fundamental question in developmental biology is how cell fates are determined. To answer this, Dr. Hongay will employ the new microscope to perform high resolution confocal analyses to determine how a highly evolutionarily conserved RNA-modifying enzyme dictates cell fates and cell differentiation in Drosophila spermatogenesis.
