Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

A group of researchers from various research disciplines within the Department of Biology seeks funds for a multi-mode microplate reader capable of quantifying spectral absorbance, fluorescence and luminescence. The requested equipment will be used for a multitude of applications including quantification of nucleic acids using fluorescence for high throughput sequencing, detection and quantification of proteins using plate-based fluorescent immunoassays, measuring intracellular calcium concentrations using a fluorescent indicator, detecting protein-protein interactions using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer and determining protein half-life in vivo using bioluminescence. The co-applicants and other users represent early career and established scientists whose research programs will train highly qualified personnel (HQP) with highly transferable skills in diverse areas and will sustain the operation and maintenance of the instrument. The research programs that would be supported by the microplate reader are diverse, including regulatory role of ubiquitin-dependent protein degradation in plant development and response to environmental stresses (e.g. pathogens, iron deficiency and heat); population genomics of marine organisms (e.g. Atlantic Cod, Northern Bottlenose Whale and Cyrtograpsus angulatus [crab]); voltage-gated sodium channel activity and axonal transport in the central nervous system; selection and mutation in guiding the evolution of plant populations. The instrument will therefore be used to study important aspects of population and conservation genetics, neuroscience, developmental, cellular and molecular biology, biodiversity and evolutionary biology. While the equipment will facilitate experiments addressing basic and fundamental research questions for the purpose of advancing knowledge, the outcomes of the research supported by the requested instrument have the potential to directly benefit the Canadian economy in the agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries management and conservation, and health sectors. Reasons to fund the proposal include the large and diverse group of users, the excellence of the researchers and research programs, the current and potential capabilities for training of HQP, the urgent need for the equipment, and the lack of any suitable alternatives.