Equipment
Among other things we have the equipment below at the department. Before you buy new equipment check here and see if you may use any of the existing machinery instead.
Use
A FlowCAM (Fluid Imaging Technologies) is located in the Ecology Building. It is a high throughput particle analysis system for microscopic particles (like cyanobacteria, fossil cysts, nematodes, malaria parasites, red blood cells, phytoplankton, zooplankton) that provides the user with a number of variables (like volume, fluorescence) and images of each particle. The system includes software to process data.
Location
Ecology Building, Aquatic Ecology unit.
Price
On agreement.
Contact
Marie [dot] Svensson [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 37 51, Aquatic Ecology.
Use
A flow cytometer, BD Accuri C6 (Oskar) is located in Biology Building C. It can be used to measure various physical and chemical properties of cells and particles with high precision. It is used both in research and in teaching. Examples of applications are the determination of cell surface and intracellular proteins, enzyme activities, apoptosis, cell cycle phase distribution, and cell and mitochondrial membrane potentials. The FCM was purchased in 2012.
Location
Biology Building C, first floor, Animal Physiology.
Price
On agreement.
Contact
Stina [dot] Oredsson [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 94 97, Animal Physiology.
Use
The other BD Accuri C6 is used for pathogenic microorganisms. This machine is also equipped with a selectable laser module for cytometric bead array analysis and a CSampler Plus robotic arm that enables high throughput analyses using 96-well plates.
Location
The biosafety level 2 lab in Biology House A
Contact
Fredric [dot] Carlsson [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 40 81, Molecular Cell Biology.
Use
This gas chromatograph can be used for measuring soil respiration (carbon dioxide), methane production, N2-fixation activity (acetylene reduction), ethylene etc in headspace samples. The instrument is a YL Instrument 6500 GC with an HTA autosampler for 40 samples, purchased in 2014. The machine can only be used upon agreement with the contact person.
Location
Ecology Building, 3rd floor, Biodiversity unit.
Price
Annual user fee plus charged at cost-price per sample. With owned sampling equipment (vials, caps, and such) running costs are presently less than 10
Contact
Johannes [dot] Rousk [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 37 45, MEMEG.
Use
Our GC lab is equipped with two GC-MS (gas chromatography with mass selective detector) and GC (gas chromatograph). These instruments can be used for the detection and identification of trace amounts down to picogram level of most organic volatiles, such as plant substances, incorporated stable isotopes or metabolites of pheromone intermediates.
Equipment
- GC Agilent 7890A with masspectrometer 5975C with inert Triple-axis EI. It is equipped with an Automatic Liquid Sampler (ALS) for 150 samples. Purchased 2013.
- GC Agilent 6890 with masspectrometer 5973 EI and ALS for 100 samples.
- GC Hewlett-Packard 5890 Plus with FID (Flame Ionizing Detector) to test sample quality, purity or quantification. Very high sensitivity.
All GCs can be equipped with different types of columns; non-polar, polar or chiral special columns to analyze different types of samples. The software is ChemStation in all instruments. The mass spectrometers have several different MS libraries, like latest NIST.
Sample preparation can be done in the lab. We also have equipment for odour collections with mini-pumps and filters in the lab or in the field (Porapac, Tenax, active carbon), SPME and a "closed-loop pump".
Location
Ecology Building, First floor, Pheromone group.
Price
60 SEK/sample (+ trigger)
Contact
Hong-Lei [dot] Wang [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 01 26 and Erling [dot] Jirle [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se (Erling[dot]Jirle[at]biol[dot]lu[dot]se), +46 46 222 49 99, Pheromone Group.
Use
By using HPLC (High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography) you can separate and purify complex mixtures of enzymes/proteins/macromolecules in the µg/ng levels. Fractions can be collected for the analysis of for example enzyme activities, isotopes (15-N and 13-C), spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry.
A large number of columns are available (ion exchange, size exclusion, hydrophobic interaction, reversed-phase). The machine is a Thermo Scientific Ultimate 3000 purchased in 2012.
Use
Analyses of dissolved organic matter, extracellular enzymes and proteins in soils.
Location
Ecology Building, First floor, MEMEG.
Price
By agreement.
Contact
Anders [dot] Tunlid [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 37 52, MEMEG.
Use
The "Integrated vibrational spectroscopy – microtome laboratory for molecular-scale biogeochemical research" is located in the Ecology Building. It has the capability to record infrared and Raman spectra of essentially any sample in a solid or liquid state. Infrared spectra can be collected at high time-resolution in transmission and reflection mode, and a special accessory designed and built by our group facilitates analysis of processes at solid-liquid interfaces in real-time and variable solution conditions. Moreover, the laboratory is equipped with FTIR and dispersive Raman microscopes that enable the collection of spatially resolved infrared and Raman spectra of resolution of c. 5 and 0.5 µm, respectively.
Location
Ecology Building, Microbial Ecology, MEMEG unit.
Price
Access mainly through collaborative research projects. Experienced users can receive instrument time, if available, for a minor cost.
Contact
Per Persson, Per [dot] Persson [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 17 96, MEMEG/CEC.
Use
To trace radioactive isotopes (alpha, beta, gamma) for measuring bacterial growth (3H-Leu incorporation), fungal growth (14C acetate incorporation), 14CO2 traps and such. The scintillator was purchased in 2014.
Location
Ecology Building, second floor
Price
Annual user fee plus charged at cost-price per sample. With owned sampling equipment (like vials and scintillation cocktail) running costs are presently less than 10 SEK/sample.
Contact
Johannes [dot] Rousk [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 37 45, MEMEG.
Use
The microplate reader has luminescence and polarised fluorescence. It can be used for all sorts of cellular, biochemical, molecular and epigenetical assays.
Applications include for example:
- Monitoring absorbance changes in cellular cofactors NADH and NADPH allows the determination of enzymatic activity
- ELISA, DNA and Bradford protein quantitation assays
- Reaction optimization (metallation of porphyrin in twelve different solvents) by parallel kinetic studies
- Aggregation assays with e.g. Thioflavin T
- Evaluation of PARP inhibitors
- Measuring mitochondrial membrane potential
- Reporter gene assays: GFP, YFP, luciferase, dual-luciferase, BRET
- ORAC, Determination of antioxidant activity, oxygen consumption and ROS determination
- Protein, DNA and RNA quantification (e.g. Bradford, Absorbance 260/280, Quant-iT PicoGreen)
Location
Ecology Building, second floor
User rules
First-time users get a short introduction. The booking calendar is placed by the machine. For long runs contact Caroline Isaksson well in advance.
Price
Not set yet.
Contact
Caroline [dot] Isaksson [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 17 80, Evolutionary Ecology.
Use
In Biology Building C there is one more plate reader, installed in 2017, a SpectraMax i3 Multi-mode microplate platform (Molecular Devices), with a SpectraMax MiniMax Imaging Cytometer. It measures spectral-based absorbance, fluorescence, and luminescence. It also has modular upgrades for Western Blot, imaging, and fast kinetics with injectors.
Location
Biology Building C, Animal Physiology unit.
Price
Not set yet.
Contact
Lars [dot] Raberg [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 37 66, Animal Physiology Group, Functional Zoology.
Use
This setup is placed in Biology Building A and is used for bacterial cell biology. It consists of the following: A microfluid cell perfusion system (CellASIC ONIX Microfluid platform), an inverted fluorescence microscope (Zeiss Axio Observer Z1) plus one older microscope as well, two sCMOS microscope cameras (Hamamatsu ORCA-Flash 4.0), software (Velocity 3D Image Analysis) and a micro point laser system for photoactivation and photobleaching.
Location
Biology Building A, Molecular Cell Biology Unit.
Contact
Klas Flärdh, Klas [dot] Flardh [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 85 84, Molecular Cell Biology.
Use
A Typhoon FLA9500 Molecular imager (GE Healthcare) is located in Biology Building A. This is a multi-imaging system for fluorescence and radioisotope detection and quantitative analysis of biomolecules. It detects radioactive signals from gels or membranes by phosphor image screens. Gels and membranes can be scanned for fluorescence signals.
Location
Biology Building A, Molecular Cell Biology Unit.
Price
Not set. This is not an infrastructure providing a service platform. However, the instrument has the unique property of radiation detection, which is very helpful for various molecular approaches, and such an apparatus is not very abundant.
Contact
Marita [dot] Cohn [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 72 56, Molecular Cell Biology.
Use
A Picarro G2201-i dual carbon isotope analyzer is located in the Ecology Building. Cavity ring-down spectrometry represents a new technique to measure the concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon, CO2 and CH4, which enable researchers to detect variations in e.g. soil respiration rates at the scale of minutes. It can also generate long time series of high-resolution data in situ as well as in laboratory-based microcosm experiments. An additional important benefit is that it can measure the isotopic composition of CO2 and CH4 with high precision.
Location
Ecology Building, Biodiversity unit, GC-lab.
Price
On agreement.
Contact
Per [dot] Bengtson [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 37 60, Microbial Ecology Group, MEMEG.
Use
An Agilent Stratagene Mx3005P qPCR instrument is located in the Ecology Building. Real-time polymerase chain reaction monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule during the PCR, i.e. in real-time, and not at its end, as in conventional PCR. The instrument can measure relative and absolute quantities of specific DNA or RNA molecules, e.g. infection intensities of various pathogens (DNA) or expression profiles of genes (mRNA).
Location
Ecology Building, MEMEG unit.
Price
The instrument is open for use by any researcher affiliated with the Department of Biology. There is no user fee though reagents and consumables (plastics) are paid by the user.
Contact
Staffan [dot] Bensch [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 42 92, MEEL, MEMEG.
Use
A set of ultracentrifuges are available in Biology House A: Beckman L7-65, Beckman L8, Beckman-Coultier Avanti J-26 XP (4 of them) and more. These are for internal use within House A, but can also be used by others after agreement.
Location
Biology Building A, ground floor, Molecular Cell Biology.
Price
On agreement.
Contact
Elisabeth [dot] Gauger_Nilsson [at] biol [dot] lu [dot] se, +46 46 222 77 94 or