The main educational goals of the course are:
1) acquisition of knowledge on advanced methodologies in microbial biotechnology;
2) acquisition of appropriate methodologies and communication skills for the isolation, observation, description and engineering of industrial microorganisms;
3) acquisition of applied knowledge for drafting and executing experimental protocols;
4) acquisition of knowledge and skills for retrieving relevant scientific literature from on-line databases and for critically reviewing it.
The expected learning outcomes are the increase of the student theoretical knowledge in the field of microbial biotechnology, of its practical skills for the design and execution of laboratory experiments, and of its critical ability to search and evaluate scientific literature data.
1) acquisition of knowledge on advanced methodologies in microbial biotechnology;
2) acquisition of appropriate methodologies and communication skills for the isolation, observation, description and engineering of industrial microorganisms;
3) acquisition of applied knowledge for drafting and executing experimental protocols;
4) acquisition of knowledge and skills for retrieving relevant scientific literature from on-line databases and for critically reviewing it.
The expected learning outcomes are the increase of the student theoretical knowledge in the field of microbial biotechnology, of its practical skills for the design and execution of laboratory experiments, and of its critical ability to search and evaluate scientific literature data.
teacher profile teaching materials
- adequate knowledge and understanding on advanced methodologies in microbial biotechnology, appropriate methodologies and communication skills for the isolation, observation, description and engineering of industrial microorganisms;
- adequate applied knowledge for drafting and executing experimental protocols, and for retrieving and critically reviewing relevant scientific literature from on-line databases (making judgements).
Programme
During the laboratory practices and the corresponding theoretic lessons, the following topics will be covered:
- isolation of microorganisms of industrial relevance from the environment, preparation of growth media and cultivation techniques;
- transposon–based mutagenesis (generation and screening of mutant libraries);
- genetic transfer processes (conjugation and transformation);
- use of whole-cell bacterial biosensors for gauging specific molecules produced by other microorganisms.
The following topics will be covered in additional theoretic lessons:
- development of innovative therapeutic strategies based on biotechnological processes;
- development of biosensors and reporter systems for the identification of new drugs;
- application of synthetic biology to microbial biotechnology;
- properties of the regulatory networks and their application to biotechnological processes.
Innovative teaching will be promoted by cloud-sharing of power-point presentations illustrating the main topics of the course. Moreover, students will be encouraged to make use of web-based resources and databases to autonomously increase their knowledge on specific advanced topics.
Students will be received at the best of their convenience if an appointment has been fixed at the end of the lessons or by email.
Programme
The course aims at providing to the student:- adequate knowledge and understanding on advanced methodologies in microbial biotechnology, appropriate methodologies and communication skills for the isolation, observation, description and engineering of industrial microorganisms;
- adequate applied knowledge for drafting and executing experimental protocols, and for retrieving and critically reviewing relevant scientific literature from on-line databases (making judgements).
Programme
During the laboratory practices and the corresponding theoretic lessons, the following topics will be covered:
- isolation of microorganisms of industrial relevance from the environment, preparation of growth media and cultivation techniques;
- transposon–based mutagenesis (generation and screening of mutant libraries);
- genetic transfer processes (conjugation and transformation);
- use of whole-cell bacterial biosensors for gauging specific molecules produced by other microorganisms.
The following topics will be covered in additional theoretic lessons:
- development of innovative therapeutic strategies based on biotechnological processes;
- development of biosensors and reporter systems for the identification of new drugs;
- application of synthetic biology to microbial biotechnology;
- properties of the regulatory networks and their application to biotechnological processes.
Core Documentation
Selected topics will be available on suggested Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology books, as indicated in the following reference list. Specific research papers and experimental protocols will be provided during theoretic lessons on advanced research topics and laboratory practices.Innovative teaching will be promoted by cloud-sharing of power-point presentations illustrating the main topics of the course. Moreover, students will be encouraged to make use of web-based resources and databases to autonomously increase their knowledge on specific advanced topics.
Students will be received at the best of their convenience if an appointment has been fixed at the end of the lessons or by email.
Reference Bibliography
- Brock - Biology of microorganisms. Mihael T. Madigan, John M. Martinko, Kelly S. Bender, Daniel H. Buckley, David A. Stahl. Pearson. - Microbial Biotechnology: Fundamentals of Applied Microbiology. Alexander N. Glazer, Hiroshi Nikaido. Cambridge University Press. - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/Type of delivery of the course
The course is based on theoretical lessons in classroom and on laboratory practice. Starting from March 5th 2020, the lessons will be held online on the Microsoft Teams platform due to the COVID-19 emergency. All communications will be sent to students via email and through the Moodle platform (https://scienze.el.uniroma3.it), from which students can also download the slides of the lessons (also available on the DropBox shared folder).Attendance
Admission to the final exams is restricted to students that will attend at least 18 lessons (theoretical or practical) out of the 24 lessons of the course.Type of evaluation
The student will be asked to autonomously select a scientific publication to be presented at the beginning of the exam. Additional theoretical and practical concepts discussed during the lessons of the course will be objects of the exam. Particular attention will be given to the ability of the student to apply the knowledge acquired during the course to solve new problems in the biotechnological scenario. Final mark will be attribute as follow: - 20% selection and understanding of the scientific publication; - 20% communication skills; - 30% acquisition of knowledge and understanding; - 30% capacity to apply the knowledge for problem-solving. Outstanding students will be certified with honors (lode).