Overordnede kursusmål
This course will introduce the diversity of microbes, the microbial
interactions, and the microbial processes that are relevant for
many environmental biotechnological applications (e.g. water
supply, wastewater biotechnology, contaminant biodegradation,
bioenergy production, water quality management). Using case studies
that vary from year to year (the engineered N cycle, soil pesticide
biodegradation, pathogen survival in wastewater effluents), the
students will learn how to observe and work with microbes and
develop an appreciation for core concepts in microbial ecology.
Through laboratory exercises, and a combination of traditional and
contemporary tools and techniques, students will learn how to
evaluate the presence, abundance, identity, diversity, and activity
of microbes in various environments and measure environmental
process rates.
Læringsmål
En studerende, der fuldt ud har opfyldt kursets mål, vil kunne:
- Determine and quantify targeted microbes with modern molecular
and microscopic methods
- Choose and appraise measures for microbial activity and
abundance measurement in environmental samples
- Isolate and quantify pathogenic microbes and microbial strains
that degrade environmental pollutants via selective enrichment and
cultivation
- Perform and interpret molecular diversity analysis on
environmental strains and communities
- Measure and interpret microbial biotransformation rates
- Discuss how microbial processes drive biogeochemical
cycles
- Recognize and interpret microbial interactions and their
importance in microbial ecology, and describe opportunities to
interfere in those interactions
- Explain how environmental conditions (abiotic factors) affect
microbial processes and interactions
- Isolate bacteriophages and/or plasmids from environmental
samples
- Recognize microbial strategies to survive unfavourable
environments
Kursusindhold
Working with microbes, determination of microbial density and
metabolic rates, nucleic acid extraction, 16S rRNA targeted
Fluorescent In situ Hybridization (FISH), quantitative PCR,
confocal scanning laser microscopy, cloning and sequencing,
bioinformatics, plasmid and phage isolation, respirometry, C-14
radiotracers, selective enrichment and growth of microbes,
biotransformation assays
Litteraturhenvisninger
Brock Biology of Microorganisms 14th edition (selected chapters)
Sidst opdateret
18. november, 2016
