The cell. Methods of bacterial identification and classification. Sterilization. Growth media. Measurement of cell mass and cell number. Bacterial growth curve. Fermentation, aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Photosynthetic metabolism. Bacterial endospore. Microbial genetics. Structure and classification of viruses. Antibiotics. Virulence factors of pathogenic microorganisms.
Environmental microbiology. Methods of analysis of microbial communities. Microorganisms and cultural Heritage.
Madigan, M.T., J.M. Martinko, J. Parker. 2007. Brock Biologia dei microrganismi. Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, Milano
M. Willey, M. Sherwood, J. Woolverton. 2009. Prescott Microbiologia. McGraw-Hill, Milano
Learning Objectives
Knolewdge acquired:
Microbial terminology and main aspects of the prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell; pure cultures, bacterial growth and growth factors; genetics and microbial metabolism; classification and identification of microorganisms; interactions between microorganisms and cultural heritage.
Competence acquired:
Growth, isolation, enrichment and characterization of microorganisms; measurement of bacterial concentration; sterilization, antibiotic assays, use of instrumentation for microbiological studies.
Skills acquired (at the end of the course):
Understanding of the importance of microorganisms in nature and of their use.
Prerequisites
Courses to be used as requirements (required and/or recommended)
Courses required: none
Courses recommended: none
Teaching Methods
CFU: 9
Contact hours for: Lectures (hours): 72
Type of Assessment
Oral or written examination
Course program
The prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell. Cell division. Capsule; flagella; cell wall: structure and biosynthesis; membrane; genome. Methods of bacterial identification and classification.
Sterilization. Growth media. Pure cultures. Gram staining. Measurement of cell mass and cell number. Bacterial growth curve. Growth factors.
Carbon and energy sources. Fermentation, aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Photosynthetic metabolism. Carbon, nitrogen and sulphur biological cycles. Regulation of bacterial metabolism. Bacterial endospore.
Microbial genetics: mutation rate, transformation, conjugation and transduction. Plasmids. Transposons. Restriction and modification.
Antibiotics producers. Antibiotics mechanism of action. Sulphonamide. Penicillins and other antibiotics acting on cell wall. Antibiotics inhibitors of nucleic acids and proteins. Antifungi. Antiviral molecules. Antibiotic resistance.
Structure and classification of viruses. Viral infection. Lytic and lysogenic phages. Animal viruses.
Virulence factors of pathogenic microorganisms. Microbial toxins. Koch postulates. Host defences. Vaccines.
Examples of industrial microbiology.
Eukaryotic microorganisms. Microbial ecology. Microbial growth in the environment. Role of microbes in the ecosystem. Methods of analysis of composition and activities of microbial communities. Microorganisms and cultural heritage. Biodeterioration of organic and inorganic constituents of cultural artefacts. Biodeterioration control. Bioremediation of cultural objects.