Course syllabus

ukaryotic molecular microbiology  BIO440

 

Note about the Corona virus (COVID-19) situation: This course is planned to run on campus.

  • Each individual bears much of the responsibility. Everyone needs to contribute to reducing the spread of disease.
  • Stay at home if you experience any symptoms of COVID-19.
  • The situation can change quickly and it is therefore important that you keep updated of new developments on Studentportalen.
  • Direct any questions to the course leader.

 

Spring 2022 2nd quarter, March 24 - June 3 (for details, see schedule)

Course leader: Per Sunnerhagen, Department of Chemistry and Molecular biology

per.sunnerhagen@cmb.gu.se

+46317863830

Lundberg laboratory, Medicinaregatan 9, room 1413

 

Teachers:

Beidong Liu  liu.beidong@cmb.gu.se

Markus Tamás markus.tamas@cmb.gu.se

Owens Uwangue owens.uwangue@gu.se

Yuan Gao yuan.gao@gu.se

 

Venue:

The course will run on campus this year 2022. Directions are found in the schedule. Lectures, seminars and computer lab in rooms along Medicinaregatan, experimental lab work in floor 2 of the Lundberg laboratory, Medicinaregatan 9C. Demonstration of lab robots in floor 4 of the Lundberg laboratory.

 

 
Content
 
The course is about molecular biology studies of eukaryotic microorganisms, including yeast. We study cellular regulatory mechanisms such as signal transduction, control of gene expression, stress responses and cell cycle control. Experimental strategies and applications such as molecular biology and genetic analysis, cell biology and genome-wide techniques are important. We focus on complex molecular biological, cell biological, genetic and functional genomics processes in eukaryotic microorganisms.

We also address applications of yeast as a model organism for other eukaryotes: animals, plants, fungi or parasites, or in biotechnology. We introduce new application areas for yeast such as systems biology, surrogate genetics and synthetic biology.

Having completed the course, you will be able to conduct experimental laboratory work, including analysis and interpretation. You should also be able to independently understand and evaluate scientific literature and research information.

 

Organization and examination

The course has several different sections. Successful completion of a section gives points towards a total score. Your grade will be determined solely by this total score: you need 60 % to get grade "Pass" ("G") and 85 % to get grade "High pass" ("VG"). There are no additional requirements to get above a certain percentage for an individual section. The weight of the different sections and subsections towards the final score is given by the score sheet. All written material submitted for examination will be scanned for plagiarism in the Urkund database.

Section 1: Introduction to yeast biology (Lectures). Examined through a short written home exam that you submit online.

Section 2: Laboratory course (Experimental part). Examined through grading of your lab reports.

Section 3: Case studies. Here, you team up in groups of two to three students, and read a key scientific article where yeast was used as an experimental organism. You write a summary, and then present and discuss the paper with the others in the course. The audience asks questions and participates in the discussion. During the course, every student makes two case studies. Examined through grading of the oral and written part of each case study. You also get points for participating in discussing the case study presentation of other students.

Section 4: Research presentations. Group leaders, postdocs or PhD students from groups working with yeast present their scientific projects. Students attend the presentations, discuss and ask questions. Examined by the participation in discussions of research presentations.

Section 5: Review of scientific paper. You make a review of a scientific manuscript to be submitted for publication. Examined through grading of the reviews.

Section 6: Gene project. In groups of four to five, you write a mini-proposal how you plan to investigate the function of a fictive gene. The proposal is written up and submitted online, presented orally to the other students and discussed. Examined through grading of your written report and oral presentation. You also get points for participating in the discussion of other proposals.