College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences

Carver Hall

Plant Tissue Culture Biotechnology Laboratory

Room B, Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Lab performs plant tissue culture and plant molecular biology
  • OHAUS analytical balance
  • Eppendorf centrifuge 5414C
  • Sterilmatic Autoclave
  • Three thermolyne stirring hot plates
  • Maxima vacuum pump
  • Cryo-fridge
  • Orion pH meter
  • Envirico laminar flo hoods
  • Oxford micro pipettes
  • Baxter sterile loop bacteriology incinerator
  • Fisher vortex genie shakers

Plant Biotechnology Teaching and Research Laboratory 
Room 116, Carver Hall 

Capabilities

  • Plant tissue culture
  • Micropropagation
  • Genetic transformation for value-added traits
  • Biosensing for radiation and toxic contaminants
  • Disease, insect and resistance/tolerance
  • Phytoremediation
  • Somaclonal variation
  • Synthetic (artificial) seeds
  • Rescue of endangered species and mass production of rare and unique plant species
  • Secondary production for pharmaceuticals and neutraceuticals (or plant-made pharmaceuticals and neutraceuticals)
  • Somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis
  • Removal of plant diseases, particularly viruses
  • Germplasm conservation

Instrumentation

  • Laminar flow hood
  • Centrifuge
  • Gel electrophoresis apparatus
  • Bacticinerator
  • Biolistic particle bombardment device
  • Autoclave
  • Deep freezer
  • Gel drier
  • Controlled environmental chamber
  • Light banks, etc. to implement basic and applied plant biotechnology researches

Research

  • Efficiency improvement of in vitro regeneration for chestnut transformation to enhance blight resistance
  • Protocol development for mass production of high demand pearlbush for the horticulture industry
  • Micropropagation of galax as an alternate cash crop for the farming community
  • Guava tissue culture to develop an efficient in vitro regeneration system to produce (plant-made) cholesterol-reducing phytochemicals for the pharmaceutical and neutriceutical industries
  • Transformation of guava to enhance cold hardiness
 
Soil Chemistry and Fertility Laboratories
Rooms 126, Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Analysis of chemical elements, plant nutrients and environmental pollutants in plant, soil, water and environmental samples
  • Atomic absorption spectrophotometer
  • Research Environmental soil chemistry, including heavy metals
 
Soil Physical Properties Laboratory
Room 139 Carver Hall

Capabilities

Analysis on the physical properties of soil, including:

  • Soil texture
  • Particle size distribution
  • Plasticity limits
  • Soil water retention
  • Soil porosity and pore-size distribution
  • Aggregate stability
  • Aggregate size and aggregate distribution
  • Soil shear strength
  • Soil penetrability
  • Saturated hydraulic conductivity
  • Soil bulk density
  • Soil particle density, and clod density

Activities

  • Processing of samples collected from several agricultural/environmental experiments that monitor soil physical properties as a function of soil/land management

 

Food Research Laboratory
Room 163, Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Mineral analysis (ICP spectrometer)
  • Surface area analysis
  • Freeze-drying and dehydration of samples
  • Hydraulic Press
  • Kjeldahl distillation
  • 15 unit stirring system
  • Chemical samples preparation and analysis

Research

  • Carbon preparation and characterization
  • Carbon adsorption studies
  • Vegetable washing and sanitation
  • Dehydration of food
Food & Nutrition Laboratory
Room 164, Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Gas chromatography
  • Visible spectroscopy
  • Supercritical carbon dioxide fluid extraction
  • Automatic titration system
  • Chemical sample preparation and analysis

Research

  • Fatty acid profile analysis
  • Fat extraction and characterization
  • Nutritional composition analysis of foods
 

Analytical Services Laboratory
Rooms 177 and 179 Carver Hall 

Capabilities and Instrumentation 

The lab is equipped with instruments and personnel for elemental and chromatographic analysis of a variety of organic and inorganic matrices. Currently the lab has the following instruments.

  • Agilent 7890 B Gas chromatography with ECD and FID detectors 
  • MARS 5 microwave digester
  • Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy   
  • Waters Acquity H Class UPLC with PDA, Refractive Index, and Fluorescence         detectors
  • CHN (Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen) analyzer
  • Water bath
  • -20 degrees Freezer

Research

  • The Analytical Services Laboratory performs analysis for researchers throughout the university
 
Food Chemistry/Biochemistry and Product Development Lab
172 Carver Hall

Capabilities

  • Extraction, separation and identification of chemicals from food matrix
  • New food product development
  • Sensory analysis of processed foods (taste, smell, texture, appearance)
  • Food analysis (protein, fat, ash, and moisture analyses)
  • Detoxification of mycotoxins
  • Food preservation
  • Immunoassays
  • Biosensor development for rapid detection of foodborne pathogens
  • Development of value-added products from agricultural by-products

Instrumentation

  • Chromatography: HPLC and GC
  • Spectroscopy: UV/VIS, Minolta color analyzer
  • Microplate readers: visible and flourometer
  • Protein analyzer
  • Ozone generator
  • Texture analyzer
  • Water activity meter
  • Viscometer
  • Polytron homogenizer
  • Micro balance and analytical balance
  • Centrifuge
  • Ovens and incubators
  • Rotary evaporator
  • Refrigerated circulator
  • Water distillation/de-ionization system

Research

  • Development of a fiber-optic biosensor for real-time detection of pathogens in poultry
  • Converting agricultural byproducts – especially pecan nut shells – into activatedcarbons for decontamination of well-water
  • Development of value-added products from defatted peanut flour and/or fish meal
  • Evaluating trans fatty acids in margarines
  • Isolation, identification and quantification of phytochemicals from agricultural by-products including peanut and sweet potato skins
  • Detoxification of aflatoxins in peanuts using ozone and enzymatic methods

 

Food Microbiology and Toxicology Laboratory

Room 176, Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Microbiology testing
  • Cell culturing
  • Toxicology
  • Bacterial counting
  • Long-term storage of materials with cryogenics, ultrafreezers
  • Chemical analysis, including gas and liquid chromatography, mass and UV/VIS spectroscopy
  • Protein and fat analysis
  • Research
  • Enhancing food safety through the use of biopreservatives and new antibacterial agents derived from herbs
  • Anticarcinogenic properties of select plants
  • Human health effects of environmental pollutants, e.g. pesticides
Food Safety Microbiology Research Laboratory 
Room 173, Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Microbiological analyses, food biotechnology and fermentation
  • Biohazard laminar flow hood
  • Perkin Elmer UV/VIS spectrophotometer
  • French pressure cell press-SLM instruments
  • Shaker water bath
  • Sorvall RC 5B plus centrifuge
  • Programmable water bath
  • Isotemp refrigerated bath/circulators
  • Submerged coil apparatus
  • Autoclave (Beta star)
  • Napco Co2 incubator
  • Supervac vaccum packaging equipment
  • Bactron anaerobic/environmental chamber
  • Incubator
  • Modern PCR unit (Mastercycler gradient thermal cycle)
  • Refrigerated eppendorf micro centrifuge (model 5417 R)
  • Digital camera to visualize and document DNA
  • Electroporation unit
  • Sonicator and rotor for Sorvall RC 5B plus centrifuge

Research

  • Food safety
  • Fermentation and functional properties of active compounds in foods
  • Functional foods, including yogurt
  • New technologies to improve nutritional quality and safety of dairy foods
  • New industrial processes and applications for bifidobacteria, including natural preservatives, antimicrobial compounds, and bidegradable plastics
  • Developing new laboratory experiment in agriculturally-derived biodegradeable plastics

 

Mushroom Biotechnology Laboratory
Room 250, Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Facilities to conduct research on genetics, breeding and selection of improved commercial strains of edible and medicinal mushrooms
  • Compound extraction from medicinal mushrooms
  • Liquid state fermentation of fungi
  • Production of quality spawn, and production of substrate to organically-certified standards, for mushroom growers
  • Strain identification, typing and characterization using molecular biology and biotechnology-based techniques
  • Autoclave
  • Laminar flow hood
  • Incubators
  • Freeze dryers
  • Liquid nitrogen storage

Research

  • Research on specialty mushroom production techniques
  • Field-testing of mushroom production, marketing studies, and development of a marketing campaign, with the goal of making North Carolina a leader in the production of edible and medicinal mushrooms
  • Anti-tumor and immune stimulatory effects of edible and medicinal mushrooms
  • Maintenance of a sterile culture bank of more than 300 strains of edible and medicinal mushrooms
  • Application of white rot fungi in waste recycling, management and bioremediation of environmental pollutants
  • Bio-prospecting for compounds of industrial importance in North Carolina mushroom and white rot fungi
 
Smart Classroom
Room 255 Carver

Description

State of the art instructional hardware and software for multimedia presentations, and Web based and distance learning. Allows for monitoring of each work station, instant messaging, live demonstrations at remote sites, video conferencing. Smart board automatically saves all material and notes for convenience of students.

 
Soil Fertility Laboratory
Room 257 Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Soil fertility testing
  • High-speed centrifuge

Research

  • Specialty melons, specialty corn, and other high-value crops
  • Soil quality
 
Bioremediation and Nitrogen Transformation Laboratory
Rooms 268, 270 Carver Hall

Capabilities and instrumentation

  • Analysis of soil,water, and plant samples for carbon, nitrogen and sulphur content
  • Digestion of soil and plant samples for phosphorus
  • Soil enzymes analysis and studying soil bioremediation
  • CHNS analyzer
  • Incubators, shakers, balances
  • Spectrophotometer
  • Autoclave
  • Sample digestor
  • Biological respirometer

Research

  • Bioremediation of herbicides by using wetlands technology
  • Nutrients removal from Swine