This group proposal seeks funds to purchase three major items of equipment: a cryostat, a compound, research-grade microscope and a confocal microscope. These items will be housed in the Histological Facility at the Monell Chemical Senses Center and will be utilized Center-wide. The equipment is requested by eight major users for research programs directed at a fuller understanding of the chemical senses. The projects utilize standard histology, lectin and immuno-histochemistry, in situ hybridization and in situ PCR, and focus on a range of issues from intracellular localization of proteins and neucleotides in peripheral sensory receptor cells to metabolic activity within large organ systems, e.g. the brain and the liver.