Recent advances in molecular biological techniques have not only revolutionized the types of questions being addressed in research laboratories but have also served to unify previously divergent areas of biological research. The aim of this proposal is to develop a core facility for nucleic acid isolation and analysis in the Biology Department at the University of New Mexico. The RIMI grant will provide Biology students and faculty with a unique opportunity to work in an interactive facility that will increase the level of training in the department, increase the interaction among minority and nonminority students in different areas of Biology, and increase out ability to recruit, retain, and train minority students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The five primary investigators have active research programs in fungal molecular genetics, evolution of host parasite interactions, and plant reproductive evolution. Areas of research in the department that will be supported by the facility, in addition to the above, are molecular parasitology, molecular cell biology, bacteriology, molecular evolution and biosystematics of plants and animals, and developmental biology.
