12 EC
Semester 1, period 2
5042MIC12Y
Theory
Although microorganisms are invisible to the naked eye, their role in nature should not be underestimated. Not only are they more important in total mass than all higher eukaryotes combined, but also their total physiological activity is several-fold higher. In addition, they display many unique physiological traits that have not been detected in eukaryotes and that have an enormous impact on the physical state of our planet. The huge diversity in structure, physiology and molecular regulatory mechanisms among them and their capacity to grow extremely fast and to adapt to the most extreme environmental conditions, particularly among the Archaea, are topics that all will be addressed in the lectures, and are of general interest for sure.
Because of their many unique capabilities, like a very high specific growth rate and an enormous metabolic diversity, micro-organisms also play an important role in aquatic ecology, both in the marine and in the fresh water environment. This can be illustrated with the role of heterotrophic microorganisms in soil that are essential for carbon cycling, and with the essential role of nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria in the oceans.
Microorganisms are also of crucial importance for the processing of various food products, like milk, bread and beer and equally important in the industrial biotechnology. Pathogenic microorganisms cause a large range of diseases that ultimately can be fatal for plants, animals and/or mankind.
The lecturers in this course will go into detail with respect to: (i) the diversity of micro-organisms, (ii) their structural and functional properties, (iii) their role in global ecology and in society, and (iv) on the mechanism of storage and regulated expression of genetic information typical for prokaryotes.
Practical
Working with micro-organisms requires specific abilities to work safely, while preventing unwanted infection. Acquiring these abilities is incorporated in the practical work of two small research projects that each student will carry out. A range of projects will be offered from the fields of molecular microbiology, microbial physiology, aquatic microbiology and microbial ecology. The projects will be carried out by 2 to 4 students in a team in the microbiology labs of SILS and IBED and will be supervised by PhD students (AIO’s), postdoc and technicians of the two institutes. Participants will learn how contemporary knowledge about microorganisms is translated into fundamental research questions in the broad field of microbiology and will gather hands on experience. The results ofthe practicals will be presented by the participants in two mini-symposium events to colleagues and instructors.
Brock Biology of Microorganisms, Madigan, M.T., J.M. Martinko, D.A. Stahl, et al. 2018, 15th ed., Pearson Education Limited ISBN-1: 9781292235103 www.pearsonglobaleditions.com
Handouts
Details about these materials, and other aspects of the course, will be announced via Canvas.
| Lectures | 12% |
| Exercises | 6% |
| Practicals | 44% |
| Self-studies | 38% |
Staff members of SILS-Molecular Microbial Physiology and IBED-Aquatic Microbiology will teach the lectures and exercise hours. During the first 4 weeks there will be daily lectures and exercise hours (2 to 3 hours per day), guided by the book of Brock: "Biology of Microorganisms" (13th edition). After one week of self-study and the written exam, the practical will follow in the form of two small projects, each supervised by a PhD student or post-doc, to illustrate how contemporary knowledge about microbiology is translated into questions for fundamental research in this field.
Activity | Number of hours |
Deeltoets | 6 |
Hoorcollege | 32 |
Practicum | 96 |
Presentatie | 20 |
Werkcollege | 30 |
Zelfstudie | 40 |
Zelfstudie | 112 |
Research using the scientific method. Wetlab experience, presenting your work.
Programme's requirements concerning attendance (OER-B):
Additional requirements for this course:
Attendance to the lectures is highly recommended as absence frequently coincides with failure at the written exam. Attendance to the werkcolleges and practicals is mandatory as written in the general Teaching and Examination Regulations. (OER Deel B, Artikel 4.8).
| Item and weight | Details |
|
Final grade | |
|
1 (100%) Deeltoets 1 geldt voor 50% en deeltoest 2 ook voor 50% |
In the daily seminar or werkcollege we will answer questions on the content that was lectured. In addition, we will discuss the questions and assignments that are presented at the end of every chapter in Brock. The werkcolleges are essential for a good preparation of the exams.
In the practical, assistants will assign a research question to a team of two students and discuss how to deal with it in laboratory practice. The students will make a plan, organize the materials, do the experiments (usually based on written protocols), collect results, and analyse and visualise the data. The students have to take the so-‐‑called empirical cycle into account. The results of one project will be written in a short report, while the results of the other project will be presented in a short PowerPoint presentation to peers and lecturers.
A student has passed the course when the weighted final grade is 5.5 or above both for the exam and the practical each.
Knowledge about the contents of the lectures will be tested in two written exams in week 3 and week 7, respectively, which each consist of 20 multiple choice questions and 4 open questions. Marking of the practical will be based half on practical skills, overview and data handling (grading by assistant), and half on the oral presentation (grading by all assistants and lecturers that come to listen) and/or the report (grading by two assistants).
The resit of the written examination will be about all the contents. Partial written examinations cannot be redone. Practicals can only be redone during the following time the course is given.
For at least twenty working days after the announcement of the results of a written examination, the student can, on request, inspect his/her assessed work, the questions and assignments set, as well as the standards applied for marking. The place and time will be announced via Canvas (from Teaching and Examination Regulations).
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
| Weeknummer | Onderwerpen | Studiestof |
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The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.
No Honours
Maximum of 30 students.