Acquisition of a Laser Capture Microdissection Microscope and Functional Genomics Facility for Microbial Ecology and Developmental Biology

Montana State University, Bozeman MT

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Montana State University under the direction of Dr. Timothy Ford. The grant will provide MSU with instrumentation for laser microdissection of biological samples and for genomic analysis of the isolated cells. Individual cells often live within larger cell populations. This is true both for multicellular organisms and for single-cell organisms. In multicellular organisms, cells develop into various cell types. This differentiation is due to the programmed induction or repression of genes during the developmental process. Single-cell organisms, including bacteria, often live in microbial communities, where individual cells experience gradients of nutrients or toxic waste product. These gradients affect the genetic responses of bacteria, and ultimately impact the global cycling of nutrients. In the past, biological characterizations of cellular activities often had to be performed on large cell populations, following sample homogenization. However, since not all cells within a population behave similarly, the results only represent average activities, and do not address the activities of individual cells within the population, which may vary at spatially localized sites. To begin characterizing the activities of individual cells within populations, instrumentation will be acquired to isolate and characterize cells from surrounding tissues or cellular communities. The laser capture microdissection microscope allows the excision of biological samples on the scale of an individual cell without damage to the cell or to the surrounding population. The DNA microarray instrumentation, allows the study of gene expression patterns of these isolated cells. Therefore, the combination of these two instruments will allow investigators at MSU to gain a better understanding of gene expression processes that occur on spatially localized populations of cells, without the need for sample homogenization. These studies will enhance the understanding of how cells differentiate into multicellular organisms, and how single-cell organisms respond to and impact the surrounding environment. This grant proposal represented the collective efforts of ten researchers at Montana State University, and the grant will have a positive impact on their research programs. In particular, the instrumentation provided here will be used for two main research endeavors that include: (I) the study of the physiology and ecology of microorganisms, and (II) the study of developmental biology and neurobiology. In the microbial ecology studies, the instruments will be used for research projects including (i) characterization of gene expression patterns in bacterial communities, known as biofilms, (ii) characterization of gene expression in response to toxic metals, and in the geochemical cycling of metals, and (iii) characterization of microbial ecotypes in hot-spring microbial mat communities. In the developmental biology studies, investigators will focus on experiments including (i) processes involved in the development of the central nervous system, and (ii) gene expression during the repair of damaged nerve cells. In addition to the benefit to research at MSU, this instrumentation will enhance undergraduate, graduate and minority educational programs. In the scientific disciplines, MSU has a hands-on undergraduate educational program. Most junior and senior undergraduate students in the science departments perform independent research projects that contribute to their undergraduate thesis work. By enhancing the infrastructure at MSU, this grant will provide these students with the opportunity to use state of the art instrumentation, that will become an integral component for their future careers in the biological sciences. Graduate students will also be able to enhance their Ph.D. thesis studies through the use of this instrumentation. This grant will provide outreach to the community primarily through the Montana BRIN program, designed to attract Native American students from Montana's tribal colleges to scientific disciplines. BRIN concentrates on mentoring tribal college faculty and students on the MSU campus, and includes summer undergraduate research programs for these students and faculty. The grant provided here will allow these students to become familiar with state-of-the-art instrumentation used in modern academic and industrial laboratories. This grant will also have a broad impact of scientific importance. Recent advances in DNA sequencing technology have provided a tremendous amount of genome sequence information of organisms from all domains of life. Presently, one of the main goals in the biological sciences, is to begin characterizing the activities of these genes, many of which have not yet been assigned a specific function. By characterizing gene expression events that occur in situ or in vivo, it will now be possible to develop new hypotheses on the role of these genes, and how these genes enable an organism (or cell) to thrive in its particular ecological niche.