Università Roma Tre

The course aims at providing to the student:
- adequate knowledge and understanding on advanced methodologies in microbial biotechnology, appropriate methodologies and communication skills for the isolation, observation, description and engineering of industrial microorganisms;
- adequate applied knowledge for drafting and executing experimental protocols, and for retrieving and critically reviewing relevant scientific literature from on-line databases (making judgements).

Programme
During the laboratory practices and the corresponding theoretic lessons, the following topics will be covered:
- isolation of microorganisms of industrial relevance from the environment, preparation of growth media and cultivation techniques;
- transposon–based mutagenesis (generation and screening of mutant libraries);
- genetic transfer processes (conjugation and transformation);
- use of whole-cell bacterial biosensors for gauging specific molecules produced by other microorganisms.
The following topics will be covered in additional theoretic lessons:
- development of innovative therapeutic strategies based on biotechnological processes;
- development of biosensors and reporter systems for the identification of new drugs;
- application of synthetic biology to microbial biotechnology;
- properties of the regulatory networks and their application to biotechnological processes.

Selected topics will be available on suggested Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology books, as indicated in the following reference list. Specific research papers and experimental protocols will be provided during theoretic lessons on advanced research topics and laboratory practices.
Innovative teaching will be promoted by cloud-sharing of power-point presentations illustrating the main topics of the course. Moreover, students will be encouraged to make use of web-based resources and databases to autonomously increase their knowledge on specific advanced topics.
Students will be received every Monday, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. Students can be received at the best of their convenience if an appointment has been fixed at the end of the lessons or by email.