MRI: Acquisition of Instrumentation for Compound-Specific Stable Isotope Analysis at the University of New Mexico

MRI：在新墨西哥大学购买用于化合物特异性稳定同位素分析的仪器

• 批准号: 1429042
• 负责人: Seth Newsome
• 金额: $ 31.43万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2016-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1429042&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; Instrumentation; Compound; Specific

Non Technical AbstractThe University of New Mexico recently created the Center for Stable Isotopes (UNM-CSI) that is dedicated to enhancing research and training in the application of stable isotope analysis in the biological, geological, anthropological, and medical sciences. Stable isotope analysis (SIA) has revolutionized biology by providing an integrative way to trace elements, the fundamental building blocks of all compounds, from cellular to continental scales. Our project will expand analytical capabilities at UNMCSI to include compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA), an emerging technology that allows for the analysis of individual compounds such as amino acids, fatty acids, and carbohydrates. The acquisition of cutting-edge instrumentation will greatly enhance education and training for students and post-doctoral researchers at UNM. With administrative support, UNM-CSI will offer two research assistantships per semester to train graduate students in the daily operation of instrumentation, QA/QC protocols, and data reduction. In addition, most of the principal investigators associated with this project teach undergraduate and graduate courses that use UNM-CSI as an educational platform; the new instrumentation will expose these students to pioneering technology. Lastly, several of the principal investigators also teach short courses in the U.S. and Latin America on how to apply SIA to research in their respective disciplines, which have attracted 500 graduate students and resulted in a number of students coming to the U.S. to train at UNM-CSI. Technical AbstractThe majority of SIA applications in biology focus on the analysis of bulk substrates such as plant and animal tissues. CSIA has given biologists a view into the biochemical realm that governs how nutrients are assimilated, synthesized, and transported within and among organisms. The requested instrumentation will greatly enhance opportunities for UNM faculty and students whose research focuses on two general areas: (1) organismal ecology and physiology and (2) paleo-environmental reconstruction. Our research will tackle several CSIA-based projects to (1) examine the role gut microflora play in synthesizing amino acids when their eukaryotic hosts do not consume adequate amounts of protein; (2) explore amino acid hydrogen isotopes in amino acids as novel tracers of food and water use in animals; (3) understand the dynamics of carbon turnover and transport in plants, (4) characterize the consequences of drought and dewatering on population, community, and ecosystem processes in desert aquatic systems, and (5) reconstruct ancient climates via isotope analysis of leaf waxes. Our objectives for having CSIA capabilities at UNM are to pioneer innovative analytical approaches that will be used to address a broad range of questions in biology, and grant the next generation of scientists unimpeded access to cutting-edge technology that has the potential to revolutionize their fields.

非技术摘要新墨西哥大学最近创建了稳定同位素中心（UNM-CSI），该中心致力于在生物，地质，人类学和医学科学中稳定同位素分析的应用中增强研究和培训。稳定的同位素分析（SIA）通过提供一种综合方法来追踪元素，即从细胞到大陆尺度的所有化合物的基本构建块，彻底改变了生物学。我们的项目将扩大UNMCSI的分析能力，包括化合物特异性同位素分析（CSIA），这是一种新兴技术，允许分析各个化合物，例如氨基酸，脂肪酸和碳水化合物。获得最先进的仪器将大大增强UNM的学生和博士后研究人员的教育和培训。在行政支持下，UNM-CSI每学期将提供两名研究助理职位，以培训研究生的日常操作，QA/QC协议和减少数据。此外，与该项目相关的大多数主要研究人员教授使用UNM-CSI作为教育平台的本科生和研究生课程；新的仪器将使这些学生接触到开创性的技术。最后，几位主要研究人员还在美国和拉丁美洲教授简短的课程，介绍如何将SIA应用于各自学科的研究，这些课程吸引了500名研究生，并导致许多学生来到美国参加UNM-CSI培训。技术摘要，大多数SIA在生物学中的应用都集中在分析植物和动物组织等散装基质的分析。 CSIA为生物学家提供了对生物化学领域的看法，该生物学领域控制了营养物质在生物体内外的同化，合成和运输的方式。所要求的仪器将极大地为UNM教职员工和学生提供研究，他们的研究重点是两个一般领域：（1）有机生态学和生理学以及（2）（2）古环境重建。我们的研究将解决基于CSIA的几个项目，以（1）检查肠道菌群在整合氨基酸中的作用，而其真核宿主不消耗足够的蛋白质； （2）作为动物中食物和用水的新型示踪剂，探索氨基酸中的氨基酸氢同位素； （3）了解植物中碳更换和运输的动态，（4）（4）表征了干旱和脱水对沙漠水生系统中人口，社区和生态系统过程的后果，以及（5）通过叶蜡的同位素分析重建古老的气候。我们在UNM中拥有CSIA功能的目标是开拓创新的分析方法，该方法将用于解决生物学方面的广泛问题，并授予下一代科学家对尖端技术的不受阻碍的访问，从而有可能改变其领域。