Teaching - Università Roma Tre

(objectives)

The Unit “Virology and antimicrobial immunity” of the course of General Microbiology aims to provide the basic principles of antimicrobial immunity and of structure, function and evolution of viruses. The knowledge and skills acquired during this course will represent a framework for the understanding of the whole topic and of their impact on human health and the environment.
Students who have passed the exam will know and understand (acquired knowledge) (i) structural and functional diversity of viruses, (ii) main modality of their replication, (iii) mechanisms responsible for their evolution (iv) methods and strategies for their control (v) examples of their interaction with the host; (vi) basic principles of antimicrobial immunity.
Students who have passed the exam will be able to (acquired skills) (i) understand and analyse basic test regarding the field (ii) critically analyse issues related to evolution and diffusion of viruses and to antimicrobial immunity (iii) identify and develop key themes to build educational paths in microbiology.

The module of Bacteriology of the course of General Microbiology aims to provide the basic principles of structure, function and evolution of microbial cells, with particular regard to bacterial cells. The knowledge and skills acquired during this course will represent a framework for the study of the biotechnological applications of microorganisms and for the analysis of their impact on human health and the environment.
Students who have passed the exam will know and understand (acquired knowledge) (i) the structural and functional diversity which is present in the microbial world, (ii) the mechanisms responsible for the structure and functioning of bacterial cells, (iii) the mechanisms responsible for the evolution of bacterial species, (iv) the structure and life cycles of bacterial viruses (bacteriophages), (v) the methods and strategies for the control of microbial growth.
Students who have passed the exam will be also able to (acquired skills) (i) understand and analyse bacteriological and microbiological data, (ii) critically analyse the issues related to the evolution and diffusion of multi-resistant antibiotic bacteria, (iii) understand the experimental approaches for the study and exploitation of bacteria for biotechnological and environmental purposes, (iv) identify and develop key themes to build educational paths in microbiology.

Code

20410230

Language

ITA

Type of certificate

Profit certificate

Credits	6
Scientific Disciplinary Sector Code	BIO/19
Contact Hours	48
Personal Study Hours	-
Type of Activity	Basic compulsory activities

Credits	3
Scientific Disciplinary Sector Code	BIO/19
Contact Hours	12
Laboratory Hours	15
Personal Study Hours	-
Type of Activity	Core compulsory activities

Teacher	IMPERI FRANCESCO (syllabus) BACTERIOLOGY UNIT Introduction to and history of Microbiology Functional diversity and distribution of microorganisms, main discoveries in the microbiology field, present and future biotechnological applications of microorganisms. Structure and functions of bacterial cells Structure of the prokaryotic cell. Cell division: binary fission. Cytoplasm, cytoplasmic inclusions and sub-cellular organelles. Cytoplasmic membrane and cell wall in Bacteria and Archaea. Mechanisms involved in protein secretion and cell wall biogenesis. Surface appendages: flagella and pili. Bacterial motility and chemotaxis. Cell differentiation in bacteria and sporulation. Microbial communities: biofilms. Bacterial metabolism: chemoorganotrophs, chemolithotrophs and phototrophs. Bacterial cultures and methods for bacterial cell count. Antibiotics: activity and mechanisms of action. Evolution and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Bacterial genetics and regulation of gene expression Structure of the bacterial genome. Operons. Pangenome of bacterial species. Mobile genetic elements: plasmids and transposable elements. Horizontal gene transfer: transformation, conjugation, transduction. Structure-function of bacterial RNA polymerase. Transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Examples of global regulators: catabolite repression and quorum sensing. Bacteriophages Structures and life cycles of bacteriophages. Genomes and replication strategies of bacteriophages. Regulation of viral genes. Principles of bacterial taxonomy The concept of bacterial species. Bacterial identification: culture- and molecular-based approaches. Molecular clocks and phylogenetic analysis. Characterization of complex microbial communities. Laboratory practice - Gram staining - Viable cell count by plating assays - Determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of antibiotics - Antibiogram (Kirby-Bauer assays) (reference books) Brock. Biology of microorganisms. Madigan, Martinko, Stahl, Bender, Buckley. Pearson. The textbook must be integrated with the slides of the lessons and the protocols of the exercises that will be provided by the teacher.
Dates of beginning and end of teaching activities	From to
Delivery mode	Traditional
Attendance	not mandatory
Evaluation methods	Oral exam

Teacher	AFFABRIS ELISABETTA (syllabus) Program of the Virology and antimicrobial immunity unit. What are viruses and how do they replicate. Types of capsids and their function, types of genomes and phases of the viral multiplication cycle. Definition of viral species, quasi-species determination and introduction to viral taxonomy Acute, latent and persistent infections: definition and examples David Baltimore's breakdown of viruses into 7 replication classes and the differences between classes. Virus titration, cultivation and isolation methodologies Attack mechanisms and viral penetration. The size of the viral genomes and their distinctive characteristics compared to the cellular genomes Genetic variability in DNA and RNA viruses in comparison. Antibodies: structure and function, monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, use in microbiology The definition of serotype and genotype and methods used to define them (neutralization test and genome sequencing) Introduction to innate antimicrobial immunity and PAMPs, induction of type I interferons and introduction to their mechanism of action. Notes on the humoral and cellular adaptive immune response against microbial infections (role of B, Tc and Th lymphocytes). Differences between primary and secondary immune response to infections. SV40 and human papillomaviruses, two small dsDNA animal viruses of Baltimore class I viruses: replication cycle, definition of host and permissive and non-permissive cells, promotion of oncogenesis. Replicative cycle of three different positive ssRNA viruses in comparison (i.e., poliovirus, hepatitis C virus, phage Qβ or MS2) as examples of Baltimore class IV viruses). Introduction to coronaviruses and viral pandemics. The Vesicular Stomatitis Virus and the flu virus in comparison (examples of Baltimore class V viruses). Retroviruses as example of Baltimore class VI viruses (oncogenic retroviruses and the AIDS virus). The hepatitis B virus (Baltimore class VII) an upside down retrovirus. Antimicrobial vaccines (the origin: Jenner and smallpox, Pasteur and rabies; examples of anti-viral and antibacterial vaccines used today) Practical laboratory exercises: 1. introduction to animal cell cultures 2. hemagglutination test as a titration or serological identification test (reference books) For the Virology and antimicrobial immunity Unit use the PDF files of lessons and exercise present in the Moodle platform and the following textbook: N. J. Dimmock, A. J. Easton, K. N. Leppard - Introduction to Modern Virology - Seventh edition 2016 -Wiley Blackwell - ISBN 978-1-119-97810-7 or later editions. Consult the web site viralzone.expasy.org.
Dates of beginning and end of teaching activities	From to
Delivery mode	Traditional
Attendance	not mandatory
Evaluation methods	Written test Oral exam

Teacher	SACCHI ALESSANDRA (syllabus) See the program of Virology and Bacteriology Units (reference books) See Virology and Bacteriology Units
Dates of beginning and end of teaching activities	From to
Delivery mode	Traditional
Attendance	not mandatory
Evaluation methods	Oral exam