The Biology Department is housed in a modern, air-conditioned building shared with the Department of Human Nutrition and equipped with all modern services. It is well provided with space for lecture theatres, laboratories and offices.
J. Bruce Brown Hall's location can be found on this printable map.
Photosynthesis Lab | Radioisotope Lab | Physiology Lab | Electron Microscope Facility | Light Microscope Facility | Darkroom | Biomechanics Research Laboratory | Bacterial Pathogenics Laboratory | Herbarium | Animal Holding Facility | Greenhouse | Controlled Environment Rooms and Chambers | Fully-equipped Service Room | Zoological Collection
Photosynthesis Lab - Research in this laboratory is focused upon the role of active CO2 and HCO3- transport in cyanobacteria, which are of crucial importance to global photosynthetic CO2 fixation. Work by Tony Miller and others has shown convincingly that CO2 fixation in cyanobacteria requires active transport of CO2 and HCO3- into the cells. Inorganic carbon accumulated in cells as a result of this causes increased rates of linear electron flow and chlorophyll A fluorescence quenching.
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The laboratory contains:
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Radioisotope Laboratory - This facility, renovated to AECB specifications in 1989, comprises two rooms, one 7.5 x 8.5 m and a smaller 4 x 5 m. The former is for physiological experiments that use non-volatile radioisotopes and includes a scintillation counter (Packard 2000CA), membrane chambers, current-voltage clamps, gas-mixing pump, chloridometer and atomic emission/absorption spectrophotometer. The small room has a fume hood for working with volatile isotopes.
Physiology Laboratory - Patch clamp facilities (Axopatch 1C and suite of related instruments) and cell culture containment hood (Forma) are used to study ion channels. There are also complete facilities for intracellular recordings of voltage, ions (liquid ion exchange microelectrodes), and pH (using BCECF microspectro-fluorometry) used in studies of membrane transport biology. Respiration and acid-base balance studies are aided by an automated C02 analyzer (Corning), gas mixing pump (Wosthoff), autotitration suite (Radiometer) and pH/Ion meters (Orion). Intracellular recordings are aided by vibration-damped tables (Technical Mfg. Corp.), microelectrode amplifier (WPI KS-700), high impedance microelectrode amplifier (WPI FD223), storage oscilloscope, stimulator and micropositioner (Haer) with a 4 channel oscillographic recorder (Hewlett Packard). Membrane transport library comprises 3200 reprints accessible through computer terminals.
| The cell culture facility allows growth of mammalian and other animal cells in sterile conditions. The facility is used by microbiologist Lori Graham and by physiologist Bill Marshall and is in a level 2 biocontainment laboratory. |  |
Electron Microscope Facility - A complete electron microscope facility housed on the second floor (Rm. 225) is fully operational with a JEOL 5300 Scanning Electron Microscope, plus Image Analysis system and high resolution video printer. The SEM is housed in a room adjacent to an older but functional Philips 300 Transmission Electron Microscope. Separating the two electron microscopes is a small darkroom for developing negatives. The following auxiliary equipment is available to users of the facility:
- Three Ultramicrotomes;
- Polaron Sputter Coater;
- Samdri Critical Point Dryer;
- LKB glass knife maker.
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| TEM | SEM |
Since setting up our facility in 1991, electron microscopy has been an important element in research projects of seven of our ten faculty members.
Light Microscope Facility - An Olympus Fluoview confocal laser scanning system with upright and inverted compound light microscopes for high resolution microscopy of living cells and organisms, funded by the Canadian Foundation innovation (CFI).
A Zeiss Photomicroscope III equipped for bright field, fluorescence and Nomarski DIC microscopy and a high resolution computerized spot cam and for digitizing and burning CDs of images, is located in room 410. This departmental facility enables also accurate microspectrophotometry.
A Nikon EM800 light microscope housed in Room 411, is equipped with Nomarski DIC, bright field, phase contrast and fluorescence optics, with a complete range of high quality objectives, including a water immersion lens. It has digital and film cameras and is net-linked to a dedicated PC with Adobe Photoshop and other useful software
For observation of cells in cultures there is an inverted Zeiss photomicroscope. Room 411 houses a Wild M420 macroscope equipped with a macrozoom lens and a fibre-optic bright field/darkfield transmitted light base for high resolution microscopy and microphotography of large biological specimens at intermediate magnifications (up to 87 X).
Darkroom - A fully equipped professional darkroom is located on the fourth floor of the department for black and white processing in a variety of formats. Beseler and Durst enlargers are available for general use.
A number of flatbed scanners are available throughout the Department for scanning photos or negatives and even slides. Several faculty have purchased digital cameras which are versatile for digitizing images of all kinds.
Biomechanics Research Laboratory - The laboratory contains two separate data acquisition facilities, each controlled by LabView. All mechanical testing are done on these units. One system consists of integrated instruments to measure the dynamic physical properties of arteries, and the second unit is centered around a Cambridge Technology Muscle Lever System (2 units are in the facility).
Each unit has associated equipment, including split-screen video microscopy, and a Video Dimension Analyzer, computer controlled water baths, pumps, etc. Four personal computers are located in the room, two for the data acquisition facilities, and two for data analysis, processing, etc. Three of the computers are connected to the St.F.X. local area network. There is also a IBM Xterminal in the lab. An extensive biomechanics library (almost 1400 references) is contained in a database that is accessible on one of the computers. The laboratory also contains a Leitz Polarizing photomicroscope with capability of making quantitative measurements of birefringence.
Bacterial Pathogenics Laboratory - This laboratory meets Level II containment requirements and uses molecular biology techniques and modern methods in cryo-electron microscopy to examine interactions between bacterial pathogens and eukaryotic host cells.
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Facilities include:
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A liquid nitrogen cryo-storage unit for long term storage of eukaryotic cell lines and equipment for the ultra-rapid freezing and processing of specimens for freeze-substitution electron microscopy are also present.
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An ultramicrotome has recently been added to this lab.
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Associated with this lab is a tissue culture facility containing a laminar flow hood and two CO2 incubators for culture of eukaryotic cells.
Herbarium - The herbarium consists of about 5000 herbarium specimens divided almost equally into collections of marine algae and vascular plants. The herbarium is utilized as a resource in teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses, and is a repository for collections related to several ongoing research programs in the department. The collections are stored in four metal and five wooden cabinets, which are housed in a teaching laboratory restricted to advance d courses in plant taxonomy and phycology. Additional herbarium facilities include a small collection of liquid preserved specimens, several stereomicroscopes with stands suitable for examining herbarium specimens, a research quality photo- microscope and a small library of appropriate identification manuals.
Zoological Collection - There is a collection of pickled invertebrates and fish consisting of several hundred specimens. The insect collection is housed in two cabinets and contains a few thousand specimens, many collected by students. The osteology collection contains hundreds of disarticulated specimens, mostly mammals and birds, as well as isolated skulls. The vast majority of the specimens housed here are of Nova Scotia origin, though a few specimens are from other parts of Canada. We process all the animals here, and use a dermestid beetle colony to create the skeletons.
Animal Holding Facility - small unit (210 m2) with an office, cleaning and storage area, five small animal holding rooms, and a large aquatic room with seven new chillable "living stream" tanks and several large circular tanks. Research is carried out in the facility's two walk in controlled-environment chambers.
Greenhouse - located on the fourth floor of the Biology building the greenhouse (10 x 7 m) provides horticultural facilities required for both teaching and research. This is organized and run by the Manager of Animal and Plant Care - Anne Louise MacDonald.
Controlled Environment Rooms and Chambers - Six controlled environment chambers (temperature and light) and six constant environment rooms are located in various laboratories around the department. These facilities are maintained by the university.
Fully-equipped Service Room - On the third floor, the department maintains a service and preparation room, containing a still, crushed ice machine, laboratory glassware dishwasher, pipette washer, drying oven and two autoclaves.
