BMB507: Fundamental Microbiology

Students taking the course are expected to:

• have a basic knowledge of molecular biology concepts and biochemical processes
• be able to apply scientific methodology to conduct experimental studies
• be able to apply simple statistical and mathematical models for description and analysis of data
• be able to use basic laboratory equipment
• have knowledge of laboratory safety

The
course builds on the knowledge acquired in the courses FF503 Chemistry,
Biology and Molecular Biology - The empirical experimental science,
BMB531 Human diseases, BMB532 Fundamental Biochemistry and BMB533
Molecular biology and protein chemistry. The course provides a technical
basis for studying the topics in BMB543 Biomedical Microbiology, placed
in continuation of this course in the same semester. The course also
provides basic knowledge for any graduate study in microbiology.

In
relation to the competence profile of the degree it is the explicit
focus of the course to:

• Give the competence to describe the structure of bacterial cells at the molecular level and relate cell structure properties to bacterial growth and behaviour. 
• Give the competence to describe the function of antibiotics, understand mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and relate these to bacterial cell structure and pathogenesis.
• Give skills to investigate microbes experimentally and work with sterile procedures in microbiology
• Give the competence to mathematically analyse microbiological experimental results
  

The learning objective of the course is that the student demonstrates the ability to:

• describe the structure of bacterial cells at the molecular level. 
• describe the function of antibiotics and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance.
• use basic techniques for cultivation of microorganisms.
• estimate of bacterial numbers in air and water.
• describe and understand how bacteria can cause disease and how the immune system responds to it.
• describe the structure and properties of virus.
• describe how bacterial cells convert substrates into new cell material.
• calculate growth rates, death rates, doubling times, mutation frequency etc.
• investigate bacterial population growth and how environmental factors influence bacterial growth and behavior.

Joanne Willey, Linda Sherwood, Christopher J. Woolverton: Prescott’s Microbiology, 10th.ed. McGraw-Hill.
See Blackboard for syllabus lists and additional literature references.

At the faculty of science, teaching is organized after the three-phase model ie. intro, training and study phase. The teaching activities for this course are normally anticipated to be distributed (for an average student) as follows:

• Intro phase, 14 hours
• Training phase, 28 hours, of which 18 hours E-timer and 10 hours laboratory exercises
  

The intro phase consists of lectures which provide an introduction to the course. Students are expected to independently read prescribed text (the text book) to achieve the expected competencies and necessary overview. The skills training phase deals with the central parts of the course using theoretical exercises, problem solving etc. The tutorials are based on prior independent work or, if wanted, self-organized group work. The training phase also includes laboratory exercises in which students work in pairs with practical exercises in bacterial growth and antimicrobial resistance. The study phase is partly preparation for the intro lectures, tutorials and laboratory exercises as well as preparation of laboratory reports and exam preparation (repetition).

Educational activities:

• Reading text to prepare for lectures
• Preparation for tutorials - read text and provide answers for exercises
• Prepare
  for lab exercise by reading manual, plan details of experiments, and
  watch videos with demonstration of techniques and apparatus
• Write lab report
• Prepare for exams by answering exercises