Ateneo - UPO

Basic properties and components of living organisms (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids)
DNA organization, replication and repair
Principles of transcription and translation of the genetic information
Cell structure and function
Cell communication
Animal and plant cell comparison

Biologia molecolare della cellula, Alberts, Zanichelli
L’essenziale di Biologia molecolare della cellula, Alberts, Zanichelli
Biologia cellulare e molecolare, Karp, Edises
Il mondo della cellula, Becker, Edises
Biologia Vegetale, Longo, UTET
Biologia vegetale, Pupillo, Zanichelli
Biologia delle piante, Raven, Zanichelli

The course aims to provide basic knowledge on the structural organization of animal and plant eukaryotic cells, cellular processes and intercellular relationships, mechanisms of expression and transmission of genetic information. The course also aims to provide students with adequate skills for managing and communicating information, needed to undertake subsequent studies.

Basic knowledge of cell biology that can be acquired in previous school curricula.

Classroom lectures will be held during October to January. Some topics will be deepened with videos in English and Italian and classroom exercises.

The slides of the lectures and additional material are available on the website “Didattica in Rete”: https://www.dir.uniupo.it/

Computer-Based Multiple Choice Exams. Multiple choice questions, concerning the items listed in the program, include a phrase followed by two to five options. Each correct response results in a positive score and omitted items result in no mark. The overall exam of the course is made up of a set of individual quizzes relating to each module of the course, proposed simultaneously on the same exam date. In order to pass the exam it is necessary to reach the sufficiency (18/30) in each module. From the individual evaluation of the same, votes will emerge which, following collective discussion, will give rise to the proposed vote.
Exams are held in February, June / July and September with at least two calls per session.

• Biological macromolecules: nucleic acids DNA and RNA, amino acids and proteins, lipids and carbohydrates.
• DNA: the double helix structure. Levels of organization of DNA inside the cell: nuclear chromatin and chromosome structure. DNA replication. Mechanisms of control of the fidelity of copying the genetic message. Mutations: importance in the pathology and evolution.
• Molecular definition of gene.
• The transcription and maturation of RNAs.
• The lac operon as a paradigmatic example of gene regulation in prokaryotes.
• The modulation of gene expression in eukaryotes.
• The genetic code and its characteristics.
• The protein synthesis.
• Plasma membrane: organization of the phospholipid bilayer, proteins and sugars.
• The mechanisms of transport of small molecules: permeability of the bilayer, channel proteins and carrier proteins, active and passive transport.
• Rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus: membrane and secreted protein synthesis, signal sequences, glycosylation and maturation of proteins in the Golgi. Exocytosis and endocytosis.
• Smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
Lysosomes and peroxisomes .
• Mitochondria.
• General principles of cell communication. Properties of receptors and intracellular generation of messages.
The extracellular matrix: glucosamminoglycans, proteoglycans, structural proteins and adhesive proteins.
• The cytoskeleton: actin and myosin microfilaments, intermediate filaments and microtubules
The phases of the cell cycle and mitosis. The cell cycle control.
Comparison of plant and animal organisms.
• General features of plant cells: size, shape, organization, wall, plastids, vacuole.
• Wall: wall formation, chemical composition of the wall, primary and secondary wall cell wall modifications. Importance of the wall in the control of osmotic pressure (see also the vacuole).
• Plastids: plastids in the meristematic cell, differentiation, forms and interconversion between the plastids, hypothesis on the origin of plastids. The plastids in the adult cell: chloroplasts, leucoplasts, chromoplasts.
• Vacuole: the vacuole in the meristematic cell, differentiation, the vacuole in the adult cell. Importance of the vacuole in the control of osmotic pressure.
Solid and liquid includes of the vacuole.
• Growth and development of plant cells. Characteristics of the meristematic cell and of adult cell.
• The plant tissues.
• Photosynthesis: dark phase and light phase.
• Plant hormones: auxin, cytokinins, gibberellins, ethylene and abscisic acid.

Knowledge and capacity of comprension, critical analysis and lexicon of molecular and cellular biology

At the end of the course the student will acquire the necessary tools to:
1) Understand the principles and methods of molecular and cellular biology
2) Understand the molecular mechanisms of gene expression and function
3) Understand eukaryotic cell organization and function