MICROBIOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- ANTONELLA CAPUTO
- Credits
- 9
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/19
Training objectives
- The course provides students with the general basis on microorganisms and viruses, their interactions with other organisms, the environment and the host, as well as on the main microbiological techniques essential for the study, isolation and identification of microorganisms. In addition, the course provides basic immunology concepts essential to understand the interactions between humans and microorganisms. Finally, the course provides practical knowledge of the basic methodologies of the microbiology laboratory.
At the end of the course, students will be able to describe the structure of microorganisms and viruses and classify them, describe their replication modes, understand the mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer, microbial resistance to drugs, biofilms and quorum formation. sensing, illustrate the secretion mechanisms of bacteria, discuss the pathogenesis mechanisms of bacteria and viruses, explain the relationships between host and parasite and present the mechanisms and main effectors of immune responses. In addition, students will be able to perform classical microbiological procedures to isolate and identify bacteria, to practice bacterial or viral titration and an antibiogram, and to prepare a culture medium, to recognize, differentiate and identify bacteria and viruses at starting from a polymicrobial biological sample, to choose the appropriate diagnostic assays to identify microorganisms, to generate a microbiological report. Prerequisites
- The student must have basic knowledge of chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, molecular and cellular biology, with particular attention to the animal one, with language properties and scientific mastery.
Course programme
- The General Microbiology course (8 CFU, 64 lectures and 1 CFU, 8 hours in the laboratory) will deal with the following topics: History of microbiology. Structure and functions of bacterial cells: cytoplasmic membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes, cytoplasmic inclusions, wall (structure and synthesis of the wall), outer membrane, capsule (composition and role in pathogenicity), fimbriae, pili and flagella (composition, structure and function). Specific characteristics of Bacteria and Archea. The spores: composition, characteristics and function, sporulation and germination, specific coloring. Sec-dependent and sec-independent secretion systems. Classification of bacteria and main colors (Gram and Ziehl Neelsen). Genetic information in prokaryotes: nucleoid and genomic DNA replication. Accessory genetic elements (plasmids, integrons, transposons, viral elements). Outline of energy metabolism. Microbial control methods: physical, mechanical and chemical methods and main mechanisms of action. Antibiotics: isolation of antibiotic producing microorganisms; sensitivity; classification according to the target of action and mechanism of action. Development of antibiotic resistance and resistance mechanisms. Bacterial genetics. Transmission of acquired properties through horizontal gene transfer (transformation, generalized and specialized transduction, conjugation). Biofilms. Quorum sensing. Host-microorganism interaction: mutualism, commensalism and opportunism; the human microbiota; pathogenicity and virulence; classical and molecular Koch postulates; the stages of infection (colonization, avoidance of the host's defenses, invasion, induction of damage). Toxins (exo- and endo-toxins): characteristics and properties. Helicobacter pylori and virulence factors involved in the infectious process and gastric carcinoma. Chemical and physical factors that affect the growth of bacteria. Methods of isolation and identification of bacteria (culture media; the growth curve). The primary and secondary metabolites. The basics of controlled growth in a bioreactor.
Viruses of prokaryotes and eukaryotes: structure and classification. Stages of the viral infection. Replication strategies of viruses belonging to the different classes. Outcome of prokaryotic virus infections: lytic cycle and lysogenic cycle. Outcome of eukaryotic virus infections: cell-virus ratio; host-virus relationship. Involvement of eukaryotic viruses in neoplastic transformation. Methods of study of prokaryotic and eukaryotic viruses. Virus titration. The prions. Principles of immunology and immunological techniques. Vaccines.
Laboratory activities include: safety in the microbiology laboratory, principles of aseptic techniques, culture media, seeding and isolation of bacterial populations on solid culture media, microscopic observation of microorganism preparations stained with Gram and Ziehl Neelsen. Bacterial identification elements on a phenotypic basis (culture tests on differential media) and biochemistry. Dilutions and determination of a microbial titer. Susceptibility tests to antibiotic agents (Kirby-Bauer antibiogram). Didactic methods
- Lectures held by the teacher with the use of support materials (slides, small videos and support teaching activities provided by the reference text). The lessons will be participatory. Therefore, the lessons will promote interaction on the topics addressed during the lessons, discussion and comparison. In addition, laboratory activities will be held in person according to the indications and guidelines of the University.
Learning assessment procedures
- The objective of the exam is to verify the level of knowledge and in-depth study of the topics of the course program, the student's reasoning ability and expression with appropriate terminology. The exam will be written in the form of multiple choice questions (40 questions, each with 5 choice answers, one or more correct). The time available will be 40 minutes. The evaluation will be expressed out of thirty: the minimum mark is 18/30 which will be acquired having answered exactly 60% of the questions administered. Each correct answer will be assigned a score of +1; no score (0) will be attributed to wrong or null answers. The exams will be carried out in person or online according to the indications and guidelines of the University. If required they will be oral exams. The course promotes the self-assessment process, for verifying one's preparation and understanding of the topics, through questions provided by the teacher at the end of each teaching unit, as well as through self-assessment questions, in-depth sheets and exercises made available. from the textbook, available on the MyZanichelli platform, to which students will be able to access with the unique credentials that will be provided to them with the purchase of the book recommended below.
Reference texts
- Students will be able to refer, as a reminder of the topics covered, to the material used by the teacher for the lessons, available in the classroom and use the following textbook for study:
-Dehò Gianni e Galli Enrica: Biologia dei microrganismi – III edizione - Casa Editrice Ambrosiana (2018)
