General Microbial Physiology and Diversity
Credit Hour(s): 3 Units
Instructor(s): Alber
Offered: Autumn; Spring
Prerequisite(s): Micro 4100; Biochem 4511 (can be taken concurrently, although prior credit is recommended)
Role in Microbiology Major: Core (Required)
Lecture Topics:
- Composition and structure of prokaryotic cells and microbial growth
- From elements to cellular structures (e.g., biogenesis and physiological role of the cell envelope)
- Assimilation of nutrients and biosynthesis of building blocks (anabolism)
- Biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and their roles in microbial physiology
- Diversity of catabolic processes: aerobic/anaerobic respiration, fermentation, and oxygenic/anoxygenic photosynthesis
- Microbial differentiation: sporulation, multicellular morphogenesis and biofilms
- Microbial diversity: phylogeny, environmental constraints, functional roles in communities, variations in (metabolic) strategies.
Learning Outcomes:
After completion of the lecture component of the course, successful students will understand...
- Appreciate the meaning of self-replication (without a cell there will be no new cell)
- Calculate basic growth parameters
- Understand the key reactions involved in fatty acid, sugar, and amino acid synthesis
- Understand how energy from catabolic processes are conserved through electron transport phosphorylation and substrate level phosphorylation
- Understand how microorganism play an essential role in the global carbon-, nitrogen-, and sulfur-cycles
- Appreciate the enormous diversity of microorganisms but at the same time recognize the unifying features of all life
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