The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation was awarded a $369,000 grant this week from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the acquisition of a spinning disk confocal microscope.

The Noble Foundation's grant request was funded through the NSF's Major Research Instrumentation Program. For this particular program, the NSF funded only about 20 percent of submitted grants.

"This is a highly competitive process," said Elison Blancaflor, Ph.D., Director of the Noble Foundation's Cellular Imaging Facility. "Each grant request is peer-reviewed by a panel, which then recommends which proposals to fund to the program director."

Blancaflor explained that a spinning disk confocal microscope is an advanced type of light microscope system that allows scientists to capture rapid, dynamic processes in living cells, an invaluable tool in plant science research.

"The spinning disk microscope will allow Noble Foundation researchers to acquire data not possible with standard confocal microscopes," Blancaflor said. "We will be able to collect data documenting faster cellular processes without compromising the health of the plant cell or plant tissues that we are investigating."

Capturing images of cells and biological tissues requires light, Blancaflor explained. The high intensity light required for imaging cells usually damages them, hindering a researcher's ability to collect complete data. A spinning disk confocal microscope minimizes or eliminates the damaging effects of light on cells by using a special type of scanning system to deliver light to the cells.

"By having minimal or no damage to the cell, we can expand the type of research questions that can be addressed by Noble Foundation researchers," Blancaflor said.

Beyond the Noble Foundation's scientific pursuits, the new microscope will be used for educational and outreach purposes, such as for summer microscopy workshops hosted annually at the Noble Foundation. Faculty from neighboring universities, who use the Cellular Imaging Facility for their research and students, will also have access to this advanced piece of equipment.

The co-principal investigators on the NSF grant include Rujin Chen, Kiran Mysore, Rick Nelson and Aline Valster, Ph.D.s. Richard Dixon, Michael Udvardi and Kelly Craven, Ph.D.s, are also collaborators.

This is the second equipment grant awarded to the Noble Foundation's Cellular Imaging Facility by the NSF. In 2004, the NSF funded the purchase of a multispectral confocal microscope.

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News Release Issued: August 9, 2007

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. (www.noble.org), headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a nonprofit organization conducting agricultural, forage improvement and plant biology research; assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs; and providing grants to nonprofit charitable, educational and health organizations.