GeoMicrobial co-Culturing Lab (RRID:SCR_025034)

The GeoMicrobial co-Culturing Lab (GEOM) is a central resource for the cultivation of environmentally relevant microorganisms. The lab occupies ~2000 sq. ft. of newly renovated laboratory space in the Benson Earth Sciences building that was specifically designed for studying the physiology of all types of non-pathogenic microorganisms including aerobes, anaerobes, and photosynthesizers. The facility provides cutting edge infrastructure for batch culture, continuous culture, sample preparation, substrate & product quantification, and molecular work.

Equipment summary

1. Standard geochemical and culturing infrastructure including analytical balances, pH meters, chemical fume hood, laminar flow biosafety cabinet, ultra low temperature (ULT) freezers, temperature controlled incubators, CO2 incubator, muffle furnace, freeze-drier, water purification system, water baths, ultrasonic baths, refrigerated centrifuge, microcentrifuges, 120L autoclave
2. Molecular equipment including gel imager, electrophoresis equipment, gradient PCR machine, quantitative real time PCR (qPCR), electroporator
3. Microscopy equipment including a phase contrast light microscope (Zeiss PrimoStar) and inverted fluorescence microscope (Zeiss AxioVert 200M)
4. Specialized culturing equipment includes a liquid-handling robot (TECAN Evo 150); continuous culture equipment including 6 Applikon-type bioreactor systems for aerobic and anaerobic continuous culture (operating volumes from 0.5 to 3L); custom-made multiplexed µLogger continuous culture system with built-in continuous optical density readers; two 8-port gas supply manifolds for anaerobic cultures; two anoxic chambers with gas purification and atmosphere control systems (mBraun Labstar Pro)

Analytical tools summary

Adam Younkin
Facility Manager

Sebastian Kopf
Facility Co-Director

Boswell Wing
Facility Co-Director

1. Spectrophotometers (Thermo/Ocean Optics/µLoggers) for routine cell density measurements
2. Multi-Mode absorbance/fluorescence/luminescence plate reader (Biotek Synergy H1) for high-throughput spectral measurements.
3. Coulter Counter (Beckam Coulter Multisizer 4e) for cell enumeration
4. Ion Chromatography system (Thermo ICS 6000) for routine quantification of substrates and metabolites
5. Gas chromatography system (SRI GC FID/TDC) for routine quantification of headspace gasses
6. Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) system for continuous quantification and carbon isotope analysis of methane and carbon dioxide (Picarro G2201-I Isotopic Analyzer)