Ateneo - UPO

The interactions between humans and microorganisms and between the environment and microorganisms. Microbiological models of complex communities: - the concept of human microbiome - the different microbiota of the human body - the biofilms. Technologies employed for studying microbial communities, genome evolution, and epigenetics.

-BROCK Biology of microorganisms
Madigan • Bender • Buckley • Sattley • Stahl
-The Human Microbiota and Microbiome
Edited by Julian R. Marchesi
-Human Microbiome in Health and Disease. Part A and Part B
Editors: Bhabatosh Das, Vijai Singh
- Scientific articles
- Materials by the lecturee

Knowledge and understanding - acquisition of knowledge relating to the technologies used for the study of the microbiota, the evolution of genomes, epigenetics and genome editing.
Applying knowledge and understanding: the student will apply the acquired knowledge to integrate data from microbiota analysis, and/ or resulting from the study of genetic processes with the use of artificial intelligence.
Autonomy of judgement - ability to critically analyze the elements related to the choice of the best method to be applied based on the problems to be addressed, independent judgment in the critical evaluation of the data obtained from the analysis of the microbiota and from the analysis of the genome.

Communication skills - improvement of the disciplinary lexicon in the field of genetics and microbiology according to international standards. Ability to report on the topics presented during the course with an appropriate scientific language.

Learning skills - acquisition of the ability to critically deepen and autonomously update the skills acquired, by reading texts and scientific articles. Ability to use the teaching material for a critical study.

The course includes lectures delivered in the classroom. Topics of particular interest and relevance will be examined and discussed by the reading of scientific publications. At the end of each topic covered in the course, classroom exercises will be carried out to verify the learning of the fundamental concepts.

Written exam with two open questions aimed at evaluating knowledge, concepts and critical skills acquired by the student and 6 multiple-choice questions. Multiple choice questions can be of the following types: - Multiple choice question with only one true answer - True / false questions - Word completion questions -The final grade will be given by the sum of the scores for each question. The ability to answer open questions using an appropriate technical-scientific language will also be evaluated.

The concept of microbial biodiversity in various environments. The interactions between humans and microorganisms, and environment and microorganism. Definitions and characteristics of microbiome/microbiota - The different microbiotas of the human body and their connections. Methods used to analyze microbial biodiversity, including DNA sequencing techniques, techniques for profiling complex microbial communities, metagenomics, and bioinformatics. Other examples of complex microbial communities: mono and polymicrobial biofilms, methods of analysis and mechanisms of gene recombination among community members. Basic concepts and technologies for studying genome evolution and epigenetics.

Knowledge: Provide information on microbiological models for studying the interaction between humans and microorganisms, with particular reference to the study of microbiota. Knowledge of the evolution of genomes and epigenetic processes.
Competences and Skills: Students will be able to analyze data related to the study of the microbiota and will be able to evaluate genomic data and genome editing approaches.