Programme

Introduction to and history of Microbiology (4 hours)
Functional diversity and distribution of microorganisms, main discoveries in the microbiology field, present and future biotechnological applications of microorganisms.

Structure and functions of bacterial cells (20 hours)
Structure of the prokaryotic cell. Cell division: binary fission. Cytoplasm, cytoplasmic inclusions and sub-cellular organelles. Cytoplasmic membrane and cell wall in Bacteria and Archaea. Mechanisms involved in protein secretion and cell wall biogenesis. Surface appendages: flagella and pili. Bacterial motility and chemotaxis. Cell differentiation in bacteria and sporulation. Microbial communities: biofilms. Bacterial metabolism: chemoorganotrophs, chemolithotrophs and phototrophs. Bacterial cultures and methods for bacterial cell count. Antibiotics: activity and mechanisms of action. Evolution and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.

Bacterial genetics and regulation of gene expression (8 hours)
Structure of the bacterial genome. Operons. Pangenome of bacterial species. Mobile genetic elements: plasmids and transposable elements. Horizontal gene transfer: transformation, conjugation, transduction. Structure-function of bacterial RNA polymerase. Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Examples of global regulators: catabolite repression and quorum sensing.

Principles of virology (4 hours)
Structure of viruses. Life cycles of bacteriophages. Genomes and replication strategies of bacteriophages. Regulation of viral genes. Specialized transduction.

Principles of bacterial taxonomy (4 hours)
The concept of bacterial species. Bacterial identification: culture- and molecular-based approaches. Molecular clocks and phylogenetic analysis. Characterization of complex microbial communities.

Core Documentation

Title: Brock. Biology of microorganisms
Authors: Madigan, Martinko
Editor: Pearson

Type of delivery of the course

The course is structured in lectures (MODULE 3) and laboratory exercises (MODULE 1). In particular, 50 hours of teaching are planned, of which 40 hours of lectures and 10 hours of laboratory exercises (with two repetitions). Frontal lessons are held weekly in the classroom and the teaching occurs through the use of power-point presentations.

Attendance

Attendance at lessons is not mandatory but strongly recommended.

Type of evaluation

The exam is aimed at verifying the level of knowledge and comprehension of the topics of the program and the reasoning skills developed by the student. The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths (minimum mark 18/30, maximum mark 30/30 cum laude). The exam consists of a written text (facultative) and an oral examination. The written test includes both open and closed questions on the topics covered during lectures and laboratory exercises. Open questions are evaluated for accuracy, completeness of content as well as synthesis and elaboration skills. If the mark of the written exam is at least 18/30, the oral exam will be mainly focused on the discussion about the text and the main mistakes made by the student. If the student does not pass or accept the mark of the written text, or if the student does not take the written text, the oral exam will cover all the topics of the course. Property of language, clarity of exposition, acquired knowledge and ability to make connections between the different topics are evaluated during the oral examination. Overall the exam aims to verify the achievement of the objectives in terms of knowledge and comprehension of the topics, as well as communication skills.

Programme

Replicative cycle of three different positive ssRNA viruses compared: poliovirus, hepatitis C virus, phage Qβ or MS2 (examples of Baltimore class IV viruses)
The vesicular stomatitis virus and the flu virus in comparison (examples of Baltimore class V viruses)
Retroviruses (examples of Baltimore class VI viruses): oncogenic retroviruses and the AIDS virus. Because the hepatitis B virus (Baltimore class VII) is called an upside down retrovirus.
Antimicrobial vaccines (the story: Jenner and smallpox, Pasteur and rabies, examples of anti-viral and antibacterial vaccines of today: anti-tetanus, polio, anti-pertussis, anti-hepatitis B, anti-HPV, anti-flu, anti- meningococcus)

Core Documentation

Use PDF files of lessons and exercise present in the Moodle platform and the following textbook: N. J. Dimmock, A. J. Easton, K. N. Leppard - Introduction to Modern Virology - Seventh edition 2016 -Wiley Blackwell - ISBN 978-1-119-97810-7 or later editions.
Consult the web site viralzone.expasy.org.

Type of delivery of the course

The modules would take place with lectures, but due to the suspension of the frontal teaching from the beginning of March after the first three lectures to face the coronavirus epidemic, a site dedicated to the course on the MOODLE platform has been activated. Students are asked to refer to the information present there and to register on the platform.

Attendance

attendance of the course is strongly recommended

Type of evaluation

The exam for the Microbiology course is oral. However, it is given the opportunity to carry out two ongoing tests to assess the knowledge of the subject (multiple choice questions + open questions) shortly after the completion of each of the two teaching units of the course ("Virology and antimicrobial immunity" and "Biology and genetics of prokaryotes and archea ") with a mark expressed in thirtieths. If the evaluation is sufficient (greater than or equal to 18/30 in both tests) the average mark can be recorded. The mark of the written test can be improved by taking the oral on the dates of the appeals established for the academic year. In case of insufficiency, the oral test of the units found to be insufficient must necessarily be taken.