Biologists seek answers to fundamental questions about cells

One of the newest tools in the arsenal of the Skidmore Microscopy Imaging Center is being used this summer to answer fundamental questions in cellular research.

David Domozych, professor of biology and director of the center (known as SMIC), and summer collaborator 伯克 Tinaz ’16 are using the center’s new confocal laser scanning microscope—purchased last year with a $478,000 National Science Foundation grant—to 检查植物细胞壁. The pair is engaged in detailed analysis to see how cellulose, pectins, proteins, and hemicelluloses interact sequentially in plant cell wall development.

在CLSM和小绿藻的帮助下 Penium margaritaceum, which Domozych was instrumental in identifying as a model organism for plant cell wall research, the duo is studying the development of specific polymers in experimentally 细胞培养改变. Their work involves removing polymers from the walls of living algal cells to observe how the cells regenerate those polymers. 此外，他们 have produced protoplasts—cells without walls—to learn how a new wall is produced 从头开始.

The confocal laser scanning microscope is critical to this analysis because it allows researchers to study minute, living organisms three-dimensionally. 简而言之， said Domozych, “you take a cell, put it on a slide, and get wonderful 3-D images. You can do rotational and quantitative analysis, and see incredible details.“ CLSM has six lasers, but typically five are in use at one time, allowing for sophisticated experiments such as the comprehensive investigation of cell wall dynamics in Penium. Besides generatating high-resolution, three-dimensional images of specimens, the CLSM also provides panoramic 360-degree profiles that may be rotated for analyses 任意角度.

In addition to plant biology, the CLSM has been used for research in such areas as neuroscience, mammalian physiology, and microbiology. 这种设备很受欢迎 that it is used nearly all day, every day, by a variety of Skidmore researchers. 和 work done on the CLSM has been shared with scholars at Cornell, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the University of Vermont, the University of Copenhagen, and the National 爱尔兰大学.

Domozych said he hopes that the CLSM “will be our key equipment for the next generation 年轻科学家也是如此.” He’s turned hope to reality by encouraging students to 尽可能多使用显微镜. 蒂娜兹没费多大劲就接受了 the CLSM—the biology major and math minor has been conducting microscopy research 和多莫奇相处了一年多.

He built his skills by using the College’s older confocal light microscope. 的样品形貌 was purchased at the end of his first year, and when he first saw it, Tinaz thought, “这将很难使用.” But the learning curve was not too steep, he discovered. He so enjoyed the CLSM that when he was given a chance to finish a project quickly by using the confocal light microscope, or to wait and use the CLSM, he waited. As of this past June, Tinaz said he’d accumulated about 150 hours on the CLSM, much of 他们检查 Penium他称这种细胞为“美丽的”研究细胞.

“We are trying to regenerate the cell wall,” Tinaz explained. “主要有两个原因 原料，纤维素和果胶. We know a lot about pectin so we are studying cellulose, observing how it grows and what happens in elements like the protoplasts.”

他和多莫奇还有 Penium research for most of his Skidmore career, first as a work-study student and two summers (2013年和2014年)作为合作伙伴. 工作让他“很开心”， 他说. 这是应该的. In addition to using state-of-the-art equipment, Tinaz has secured a co-author credit in a prestigious science journal. 他是其中之一 student collaborators whom Domozych credited in the paper titled “The cortical cytoskeletal network and cell-wall dynamics in the unicellular charophycean green alga Penium margaritaceum，文章发表在2014年3月5日的《 植物学年鉴， 牛津期刊.

In addition, Domozych will present results of the study at the Gordon Reseach Conference on Cell Walls next summer at Bentley College in Massachusetts and the Northeast Algal 明年四月在锡拉丘兹举行的研讨会.

All of which suits Tinaz, who hails from Karsiyaka Izmir, Turkey, just fine. “我有 a 24-hour pass to the lab and am here at all hours. 如果我不练习的话 全体船员，我在这里. 我真的很喜欢. 我很乐意用接下来的50年去做 this or similar work in a lab or at a private company. 如果这不是你的激情所在 你不能这么做.”