Facilities and equipment

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Optima Max TL ultracentrifuge (right side) and a density gradient fractionation system (left side) for DNA stable isotope probing experiments.  

Gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer setup (GCMS-QP2020 NX, Shimadzu) is connected to headspace sampler and autosampler for measuring gases H2, CO2, CH4.  The instrument is also set up for measuring production of 13CO2, 13CH4, and 15N2 from stable isotope labeling experiments.  An internal split allows for pre-separation of corrosive H2S, permitting measurements from sulfidic samples.

Anaerobic chamber (LabStar, MBRAUN) for enrichment and cultivation of anaerobic microorganisms.  The chamber is also used for early earth ferruginous analog ocean experiments. It is equipped with two different oxygen sensors and can maintain and monitor O2 levels <100ppm.

Molecular microbiology lab with multiple HEPA filtered clean hoods designed for reducing contamination and dedicated to either RNA extractions, ultra-low biomass subsurface samples, or PCR setup.  The lab contains equipment for real-time PCR and qPCR (CFX Connect, BioRad), an automated liquid handling robot for qPCR setup (EpMotion 5070, Eppendorf), transcriptome and genome library preparations.