Ateneo - UPO

The course aims to provide students with specialist skills related to advanced techniques for studying the structure and functioning of microbial communities present in the soil, in food and in humans. Technical information regarding the study of communication and the organization of microbial populations will be provided. Information will be provided about the functions that microbial communities perform and their importance in agricultural ecosystems, in food production and in human health.

The student will be provided with scientific papers regarding the most advanced methods in the study of microbial communities.

The course aims to provide the basic theoretical skills related to microbial populations and their applications in the environmental, agricultural, food, pharmaceutical and clinical fields. The student acquires the basic principles to isolate, characterize, conserve and manipulate bacteria. The course aims to provide the analysis methods of the main clinical, food and environmental matrices as well as the competences for the interpretation of the results. The course aims to provide the concepts inherent in bacterial taxonomy and the characteristics of the main bacterial strains. The course aims to provide basic knowledge of the biology of microbial communities and their possible exploitation.

The student must possess basic knowledge of biology and, in particular, of the morphology and physiology of the eukaryotic and procaryotic cell. It must also possess an adequate property of language and scientific mastery.

Lectures in the classroom with slide presentations and multimedia material. Possible expert seminars on specific topics. Reading, discussion and presentation of scientific articles in the classroom.

The control of learning, in itinere, will be carried out with classroom and collegial discussion of the topics dealt with. In particular, the different types of possible problems and potential variables will be evaluated in order to stimulate the acquisition of critical skills in tackling scientific work and in interpreting results.
Students with physical disabilities, Learning Disabilities or Special Education Needs can request specific services and tools via the Staff Sviluppo e Coordinamento Carriere e Servizi alle Studentesse e agli Studenti, consulting the University webpage: https://www.uniupo.it/en/services/services-students-physical-or-learning-disabilities
Students with disabilities, learning disabilities or special education needs, once they have contacted the University Staff, can refer to the tutor in charge of the course to define the examination modalities, concerning academic aspects.

The exam consists in a report production that concerning the main topics covered during the course. This report has the dual purpose of verifying the level of knowledge and understanding of the course contents and to assess judgment autonomy, learning ability and communicative ability. To pass the exam, the student must demonstrate knowledge and at least have understood the fundamental concepts and the most important results related to them; moreover, appropriately stimulated, it must demonstrate the ability to recognize the mistakes made and therefore identify the correct ways; finally, he must be able to present the arguments in an understandable way. To reach sufficiency it is necessary to know the basic biology of the bacterial cell and to be able to demonstrate that it has acquired the notions inherent to the bacterial taxonomy, the biology of microbial communities and the main applications of microbiology in the food, agricultural, pharmaceutical, industrial and clinical fields. In order to obtain a high grade, the student must demonstrate an independent judgment and a critical sense related to the topics dealt with, exposing his / her conclusions in a clear and logical way. The evaluation is expressed in thirtieths (minimum grade 18).

The course is divided into two modules: A) concerning biochemical techniques for the study of the microbiome (metaproteomics) and B) concerning the metagenomic approach (fully practical part). In this module, the metagenomic analysis of an environmental sample (soil) and data processing will be addressed.

Acquisition of mastery of basic theoretical knowledge related to microbiology and its applications in the environmental, agricultural, food, pharmaceutical and clinical fields. Acquisition of the fundamental principles to isolate, characterize, conserve and manipulate bacteria. Acquisition of the mastery of the methods of analysis of the main clinical, food and environmental matrices as well as the skills for the interpretation of the results. Acquisition of the mastery of the notions inherent to the bacterial taxonomy and the characteristics of the main bacterial jambs. Acquisition of mastery of basic knowledge of the biology of microbial communities and their possible exploitation.
Acquisition of appropriate scientific language. In particular:
"Knowledge and understanding": Acquisition of in-depth knowledge on bacteriology concepts and methodologies, knowledge of microbiology concepts and applications related to infectious problems, acquisition of appropriate scientific language.
"Applied knowledge and understanding": knowing how to identify the data necessary to provide information regarding the presence and type of microorganisms linked to infectious problems and to have tools to find them in reliable locations; ability to interpret the cultural results obtained, ability to apply appropriate techniques aimed at the isolation and identification of microorganisms.
"Making judgments": ability to critically analyze the elements related to the spread of infectious agents, autonomy of judgment in the evaluation of experimental data.
"Communication skills": perfecting the disciplinary vocabulary in the field of microbiology and bacteriology, as well as describing in a clear and concise way phenomena and problems related to infections even to non-workers. Ability to report on the pathological characteristics of important microorganisms in infections with an appropriate scientific language, both in oral and written form.
"Learning skills": acquisition of the ability to acquire, deepen and update independently, by reading texts and scientific articles.
Ability to use teaching material for a critical and reasoned study.