| Equipment used in researching photosynthetic complexes:
- for structural studies
Instrumentation within Queen Mary's NanoVision centre is currently being used to gain TEM microscopic film data prior to single particle image processing across a wide range of local and collaborative projects. Jon sits on its management board, co-ordinating projects of a biological TEM nature, and welcomes any contacts or queries in this regard.
Pre-2007, data for single particle image averaging projects were gained through the use of FEI (Philips) CM100 / Tecnai T12 / CM200 FEG (liquid Nitrogen-cooled) transmission electron microscopes of Imperial College's Centre for Structural Biology.
A Beowulf-style Linux cluster for the group was built, reconfigured (32-CPU; Quad cores) & implemented to increase the speed of certain key image processing steps. A DEC/Compaq Alpha XP1000 workstation (c/o of Prof. J Barber, thanks!) remains in use for stereoscopic 3D modelling.
- for investigating biochemical function
The lab has access to a wide range of equipment at Queen Mary, especially that of our local Centre for Life Sciences. Absorption spectroscopy, SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, HPLC (size exclusion and reverse-phase), FPLC, gas chromatography, gel densitometry, oxygen electrodes, fluorescence induction and relaxation, crystallisation, plant/ bacterial growth greenhouses/culturing, autoclaves, several centrifuges (+ultra) are all available, either within the lab, down the corridor, or in the building.
- Nikon LS9000 CoolScan densitometer
Our Nikon scanner, acquired in 2003, is able to provide for 6.35 micrometre step-size scans at 16 bit greyscale (6 x 7.5 cm; holder manually machined to enable 6 x 9 cm films to be scanned). A typical total cycle scan-time per single micrograph is ~ 5 min. After testing this specific instrument, one concludes that a 4 Angstrom structure is possible, but 6 Angstroms clearly achievable. It relies on a standard firewire interface coupled to a twin-monitor Shuttle PC with Nikon Scan 4.1 software. So far it has worked very well. |
