FOA-Bioimaging Research to Develop Imaging Instrumentation and
Approaches (DE-FOA-0002392); January 7, 2021
Agency
US
Department of Energy – Office of Science (SC) - Biological and Environmental
Research (BER)
Description
The
DOE SC Biological and Environmental Research (BER) Bioimaging Research program seeks to create a versatile
“tool box” for imaging biological processes occurring within and among cells in
living plants and microorganisms that may advance understanding in DOE’s energy
and environmental missions. The program hereby announces its interest in
receiving applications to support fundamental research towards enabling new
bioimaging instrumentation capabilities for the
study of plant and microbial systems which may be used in bioenergy research or
other disciplines supported by BER. Partnering with the DOE National
Laboratories, particularly in the initial phase of new instrument technology
development, is encouraged if needed but not required.
New
imaging instrumentation is needed to meet the significant challenges of
3-dimesional (3D) dynamic imaging of metabolic processes occurring deep within
thick living plant tissue and among rhizosphere communities (e.g. in planta
and in rhizosphere), which permits the real-time analysis of cellular
structure and function with high spatiotemporal resolution, and overcomes the
problems of photodamage and photobleaching, the limiting factors in imaging live
cells. Biological processes of interest include, but are not limited to,
measuring enzyme function within cells, tracking metabolic pathways in
vivo, visualizing transport of materials within cells or across cellular
membranes, and signaling processes among plant cells or during plant-microbe and
microbe-microbe interactions.
Of
interest is the development of multimodal imaging devices constructed by
integrating several different yet complementary optical imaging modalities, and
merging new, innovative and/or transformational improvements to existing
multiphoton imaging capabilities. The aim is to increase penetration depth,
making it possible to probe a variety of different biological processes and
resolve cellular structures in a biologically functioning system, without
sacrificing image quality and resolution. It is expected that applications in
response to this FOA will offer new, innovative instrumentation capable of
rapid, targeted access deep within plant tissues or among rhizosphere
communities at high resolution for imaging of biological targets
non-destructively and in real time, thereby dramatically enhancing our ability
to measure biological processes in and among living
cells.
Cost
sharing is not required. Limited to one pre-application and application for each
PI at the applicant institution (as lead PI).
Announcement
Number:
DE-FOA-0002184
Closing
Date:
Pre-Applications:
January 7, 2021
Proposals:
March 25, 2021
Link
to Full Announcement
https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329856
Contact
Information
Prem
Srivastava
301-655-7041
Prem.srivastava@science.doe.gov