A New TEM for Biology

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the purchase of an transmission electron microscope (TEM) for the Laboratory for Ultrastructural Research, a central electron microscope facility operated by the Department of Biology at the University of South Florida (USF). The new instrument replaces an obsolete, 23-year old microscope, which is currently inoperable because spare parts are no longer available. The instrument will support the research programs of four major users in the Department of Biology, three of whom have joined the institution in the last 2 years. Areas of investigation include viruses of marine invertebrates, attachment of marine algal ephiphytes, mechanical and structural properties of invertebrate eggs, and studies of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor translocator pathway in freshwater fish. The TEM will be used for instructional purposes by USF graduate and undergraduate students on a regular basis, and also used on an occasional basis in a course taught at the University of Tampa.