Yale > Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology

RESEARCH LABORATORIES AND SUPPORT FACILITIES

Research laboratories are located in the Kline Biology Tower (KBT) and Osborn Memorial Laboratories (OML). In KBT, where most faculty members are housed, there are constant temperature rooms, tissue culture and fermentor facilities, plant growth chambers, a zebrafish facility, and extensive equipment for molecular biological, genetic, biochemical, optical, and electrophysiological investigations. Three P2 facilities are available for work requiring biological containment. Two confocal microscopes housed in common space are available for use. The departmental electron microscope facilities, housed in OML and KBT, have three transmission electron microscopes and one scanning electron microscope, together with complete support facilities for specimen preparation and sectioning, supervised by a full-time staff scientist who also provides training for users of these facilities.

OML houses the major classrooms and teaching laboratories of the Department and the Training and Research Support Division, in addition to research laboratories and offices for faculty members in plant molecular biology. Plant growth chambers, constant temperature rooms and tissue culture facilities are located in OML; a small greenhouse is also located nearby. The top floor contains the major animal care facility for small mammals on the Arts and Sciences campus. In Yale's Marsh Botanical Gardens, located one block north of Science Hill, there are outdoor plots and three large greenhouses for research purposes as well as a display collection of native and exotic woody plants.

GENOMICS FACILTIES

The Yale Center for Excellence in Genome Science (YCEGS) is an NIH funded facility located in the Yale MCDB Department in Kline Tower. The principal function of the YCEGS is the production of genomic and proteomic microarrays for experimental approaches not available from commercial sources. An example is the production of microarrays with all of the unique sequences for the entire length of human chromosome 22. The open reading frames are available commercially, but the intergenic regions are not. We produce microarrays beginning with the design of PCR primers for whole human chromosomes, and then perform the PCR amplification and verification of DNA fragments (22,000 DNA fragments for hC22). We print the microarray slides, label and hybridize probes, scan the arrays, and analyze the results. To aid the production of microarrays, the YCEGS facility possesses liquid handling robotics to do the pipetting, multiple PCR machines do the amplification, capillary electrophoresis verifies the PCR products (rather than gels), and pin tool or piezoelectric arrayers print the slides. Graduate Students, Post-docs, and PIs from several departments (MCDB, MBB, Chemistry, Yale Med Pathology, Yale Med Cell Biology, and EPH) throughout Yale University utilize the facility. In addition to human chromosomes, the YCEGS has arrayed all of the yeast ORFs, all yeast intergenic DNA fragments, nearly all of the yeast proteome, and all of the available rice ORFs. Several thousand Arabidopsis proteins are also printed and assayed by our genomics facility. The facility also has a QPix colonly picker for assembling libraries for arraying or other purposes.

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IMAGING FACILITIES


	LSM 510 Confocal Microscope

Our department hosts several advanced facilities for optical and electron microscope imaging. The core confocal microscopy resources are located on the second and third floors of KBT. Included in these imaging suites are two Zeiss LSM 510 confocals built using Zeiss AXIO Observer Z1 inverted microscopes. They differ primarily in the selection of wavelengths available for fluorescence excitation and the ability to image live cells over time.Our primary microscope is the LSM 510 META (see photo above). This confocal system is outfitted with a Chameleon tunable laser, a stage-mounted CO₂ incubator/heater and a META detector capable of spectrally separating similar fluorescence emission profiles, making this microscope ideal for time-lapse imaging of living cells using either one or two-photon excitation of fluorophores and/or fluorescent proteins. Our second LSM 510 confocal microscope is outfitted with visible excitation wavelengths only. This confocal is ideal for high resolution Z-stacks of fixed cells/tissues using common red fluorophores (Rhodamine, CY3, CY5) together with GFP. Both LSM 510 confocal microscopes are capable of FRET, FRAP, colocalization and 4D image acquisition. The department also houses a Nikon inverted widefield microscope with a CCD camera for detection of low level fluorescence and a Perkin Elmer Ultraview spinning disk confocal microscope for real time low-light detection of cell dynamics. The department has transmission and scanning electron microscopes and microtomes in the EM facility housed in OML.

Light Microscopy Core Facility System

Zeiss LSM 510 META Confocal Microscope (KBT 326B)

Zeiss AXIO Observer Z1 inverted microscope
Laser lines (fixed): 458, 477, 488, 514, 561 and 633 nm
Laser lines with tunable infrared Coherent Chameleon Ultra II: 680-1080 nm, suitable for two-photo excitation of UV-absorbing fluorophores (e.g., DAPI) and visible-wavelength absorbing fluorescent proteins (e.g. GFP, YFP).
Zeiss stage incubator system for live cell experiments with controlled temperature and [CO₂].
EXFO X-cite lamp for widefield fluorescence viewing
Software: ZEN

Objectives:

LSM 510 Visible Confocal Microscope (KBT 202)

Zeiss AXIO Observer Z1 inverted microscope
EXFO X-cite lamp for widefield fluorescence viewing
Software: ZEN

Laser lines (fixed): 458, 477, 488, 514, 543 and 633 nm
Objectives:

Nikon Widefield Microscope (KBT 326A)

Nikon Diaphot 300 Inverted Microscope
Excitation: Mercury Arc Lamp
Cameras: Coolsnap HQ CCD and Axiocam MRC
High speed electronic shutters to minimize photodamage during time-lapse image acquisitions
Software: MethMorph: image acquisition and hardware control

Objectives:

Zeiss Plan 4x/0.1 NA
Nikon Plan Apochromat 20x/0.75 NA
Nikon Plan Apochromat 40x 1.0/NA oil
Nikon Plan Apochromat 100x/1.4 NA oil

Electron Microscopy Core Facility

The MCDB electron microscope facility is housed in the basement of Osborn Memorial Laboratory. Two transmission electron microscopes and one scanning electron microscope are available to members of the Science Hill community and the facility also contains all the ancillary equipment (ultramicrotomes, vacuum evaporator, critical point dryer, etc.) needed for the routine preparation of biological samples. A third transmission electron microscope is located in Kline Biology Tower and is primarily used by members of the Cytoskeletal and Cell Motility Research Group. The electron microscope facility is run by a full time supervisor who is also responsible for training new research users. Once trained, research users can be issued a key to the facility and are allowed to use the scopes at any time. Users are charged a small fee of $35.00/hour for scope time. The facility is also used to teach an upper-level undergraduate laboratory course concerned with biological electron microscopy.

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TRAINING AND RESEARCH SUPPORT DIVISION

This division of the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology currently operates from space in Osborn Memorial Laboratories and Kline Biology Tower. Its functions are to provide several introductory and advanced laboratory courses for advanced undergraduates and physicians, to serve as a central location for support of faculty research, and to foster and facilitate scientific interactions between and among undergraduates, graduate students, technical staff, postdocs, and faculty. The Division teaches techniques and approaches in molecular biology, protein chemistry, cell biology, and microscopy.

The Division is in an ongoing process of adding to its faculty and technical support personnel. Kenneth Nelson, Ph.D., is the present Director of the Division and teaches the nucleic acids courses. Joseph Wolenski, Ph.D., teaches the protein chemistry and cell biology courses. In addition to the course offerings during the regular semesters, summer short courses in current methods of molecular biology and protein chemistry for Medical Research Fellows, Industrial Scientists, and High School Teachers are taught.

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History top

THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

The Peabody Museum of Natural History is one of the largest natural history museums in the country, with important research collections in all areas of zoology, botany, and paleontology, together with geology, anthropology, and archeology.

Further information on Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

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LIBRARY FACILITIES

Kline Biology Tower houses the Kline Science Library, the major anthropology, biology, biochemistry, and physics library on campus. Research librarians are available to help in all aspects of library research, including computer literature searches. Together with adjacent libraries in Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology and Geophysics, and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, the library complex on Science Hill consists of approximately one million volumes. This is supplemented by related material in the central University library, Sterling Memorial Library, and the library of the Medical School. The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, located just a few blocks from Yale, also maintains an extensive collection of books and journals.