Introduction:

Advanced Biofilm Imaging Facility (ABIF) at SCELSE supports interdisciplinary research on environmental, life sciences and engineered biofilms and microbiomes conducted by SCELSE researchers. However, since our microscopes can address a broad range of research topics in non-microbial life and materials sciences, ABIF is open to external users as well. ABIF as a part of NTU Optical Bio-Imaging Centre (NOBIC) benefits from the comprehensive optical imaging expertise of NOBIC team.

If you are interested in using ABIF, kindly refer to information for NOBIC facilities users and ABIF price list. SCELSE researchers, students and collaborators can apply for card access to the facility after completing appropriate training. Do not hesitate to contact us to discuss how we can help you with your imaging experiments. You can reach us by email: nobic.facilities[..]e.ntu.edu.sg or abif[..]e.ntu.edu.sg and find us at SCELSE at NTU main campus.

Important Notes:

When using the facility, kindly adhere to these essential guidelines.

When publishing (in the form of journal articles, talks, posters, social media posts etc.) any images obtained at ABIF and/or any results derived from those images, kindly acknowledge the facility. Suggested acknowledgment text follows:

"Microscopy images were acquired at NTU Optical Bio-Imaging Centre (NOBIC) imaging facilities at SCELSE."

In case ABIF staff assisted you in your experiment or image processing and analysis, kindly add:

"Assistance of NOBIC staff with image acquisition* / processing* / analysis* is acknowledged." (*select whichever applies)

Do not hesitate to contact us if you need advice on describing the microscopy experiment in Materials & Methods (or analogous) section of your manuscript to ensure the description contains all details needed to reproduce the experiment.

Equipment:

Our facility is equipped with the following microscopes:

• Custom Raman/Brillouin microscope – a custom inverted microscope for micro-spectroscopy of inelastic light scattering
• Custom 2-photon microscope – an upright 2-photon microscope for 2-photon fluorescence and second harmonic generation imaging
• Carl Zeiss ELYRA PS.1 with LSM 780 confocal – super-resolution (SIM, PALM, STORM, …) and TIRF microscope combined with a laser scanning confocal
• Carl Zeiss LSM 780 – inverted laser scanning confocal with fast spectral detection (32-GaAsP array)
• Olympus FV1200 – laser scanning confocal microscope with live-cell accessories
• Carl Zeiss Axio Observer 7 with Aurox Clarity – inverted live-cell widefield microscope with a laser-free spinning disk module
• Carl Zeiss Axio Observer Z1 – inverted epifluorescence microscope
• Carl Zeiss Axio Imager M2 – upright epifluorescence microscope
• Nikon Eclipse Ts2 FL – routine inverted epifluorescence microscope
• Carl Zeiss Discovery.V8 – stereomicroscope with an RGB camera
• Carl Zeiss Primo Star – basic transmitted light microscope with an RGB camera
• Hitachi FlexSEM 1000 II – scanning electron microscope and equipment for SEM sample preparation. The SEM is suitable for imaging unprocessed samples at low vacuum.

And related IT infrastructure:

• Four workstations for image processing with software such as Imaris 9.0.2 (at three stations), FIJI, Matlab or ZEN available.
• OMERO image repository for safe storage and organising of images and to facilitate data transfer from microscope workstations. Refer to our brief guide to learn about accessing OMERO at SCELSE server (including information on getting your username and password). Fill in this form if you wish to create an OMERO account and are not a registered imaging facility user (e.g. if you plan to analyse images acquired by your colleagues). Note that OMERO is available only for members and direct collaborators of SCELSE research groups. If you are not eligible for an OMERO account, refer to our brief guide for information on an alternative data transfer solution (shared network drive).

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