Ateneo - UPO

The course aims to provide students with specialized skills concerning the structure and functioning of microbial communities present in the soil, in food and in humans. Information will be provided regarding the communication and organization of microbial populations. 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 Gut Microbiome in Health and Disease, Haller, Dirk (Ed.), Springer
The lecturer will supply scientific articles concerning the proposed themes and not contained in the indicated text.

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 cell. It must also possess an adequate property of language and scientific mastery.

Lectures in laboratory. 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 of an oral test that consists of questions that are addressed to the student on the main topics covered during the course. The oral test 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 will be divided into three main thematic areas: 1- the microbial communities associated with agricultural soils; 2- the microbial communities associated with the production of typical Italian foods; 3- the microbial communities associated with humans in physiological and pathological conditions.
In particular, during part 1 we will address: Plant species and soil type cooperatively shape the structure and function of microbial communities in the rhizosphere; Characterization of metaproteomics in crop rhizospheric soil; soil bacterial community response to differences in agricultural management along with seasonal changes in a Mediterranean region; the rhizosphere microbiome. Significance of plant beneficial, plant pathogenic and human pathogenic microorganisms; community proteogenomics reveals the systemic impact of phosphorus availability on microbial functions in tropical soil; Vitis vinifera phizosphere: characterization of microbial community associated using metagenomic and metaproteomic approaches; a bacterial-fungal metaproteomic analysis enlightens an intriguing multicomponent interaction in the rhizosphere of Lactuca sativa; antibiotic resistomes in plant microbiomes.
During part 2 we will address: Traditional cheeses: Rich and diverse microbiota with associated benefits; Pecorino Crotonese cheese: Study of bacterial population and flavour compounds; Surface microbiota analysis of Taleggio, Gorgonzola, Casera, Scimudin and Formaggio di Fossa Italian cheeses; Microbial diversity, dynamics and activity throughout manufacturing and ripening of Castelmagno PDO cheese; Study of microbial diversity in raw milk and fresh curd used for Fontina cheese production by culture-independent methods; Microbiological characterisation of Robiola di Roccaverano cheese using PCR– DGGE; Molecular evaluation of microbial diversity occurring in different types of Mozzarella cheese.
During part 3 we will address: intestinal microbiome in health and disease: introduction; composition and function of the gut microbiome; microbiome and early life; molecular microbiome analysis; evolutionary perspectives on the human gut microbiome; microbiome and gut immunity: the epitelium, innate immune cells, T cells, B cells; microbiome and diseases: inflammatory bowel diseases, allergy, graft-versus-host disease, pathogen infection, colorectal cancer, metabolic disorders, hepatic disorders, neurological disorders. Clinical implementation of high-throughput sequencing. Fecal transplantation. The urinary tract microbiome in health and disease.

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.