MICROBIOLOGY

Get to know the bacterial cell structures in depth.

Know the main fungi related to infections, to toxins, to poisonings, and to environmental contamination.

To know viral and sub-viral structures and their applications in the field of biomedicine

To know the metabolic pathways and their importance in the production processes of products

To know microbial genetics, cell growth, differentiation and other microbial vital forms.

Know the parasitic host relationships both from the point of view of medical microbiology and from the point of view of environmental microbiology

To know the main microbial species of medical interest and the therapeutic modalities

Learn about microbial cultivation techniques, infection control techniques, and general notions about infectious disease prevention

Know the principles of pharmaceutical production and pharmacopoeia.

Know the principles of quality control in microbiology, the principles of diagnostics in food microbiology and environmental microbiology, with particular attention to the health area

Lectures. Should the circumstances require online or blended teaching, appropriate modifications to what is hereby stated may be introduced, in order to achieve the main objectives of the course

Information for students with disabilities and / or SLD: To guarantee equal opportunities and in compliance with the laws in force, interested students can ask for a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and / or dispensatory measures, based on the teaching objectives and specifications needs. It is also possible to contact the CInAP contact person (Center for Active and Participatory Integration - Services for Disabilities and / or SLD) of the department.

1. The prokaryotic cell
   1. The organization of the bacterial cell
   2. The capsule and other external structures
   3. The outer membrane and peptidoglycan
   4. The cytoplasmic membrane
   5. The Pili and other types of bacterial appendices
   6. Flagella and bacterial movement
   7. The cytoplasmic organelles
   8. The membrane transport and secretion systems
   9. Bacterial nucleoid
   10. The fungal cell
   11. General features of fungi
2. Viruses and sub- viral structures
   1. The organization of the viral particle
   2. Viral symmetry
   3. Replicative classes
   4. Prions
   5. Viroids and virusoides
   6. The bacteriophage
3. Bacterial metabolism
   1. Bacterial nutrition and nutritional classification of bacteria
   2. The glycolytic pathways
   3. The gluconeogenesis
   4. Sugars alternative to glucose sugars:
      • Utilization of polysaccharides (starch, glycogen, cellulose etc)
   5. Metabolism of nitrogen compounds
   6. The tricarboxylic acid cycle, glyoxylate cycle and other cycles
   7. Bacterial respiration:
      • Oxidative phosphorylation (aerobic and microaerobic respiration)
      • The anaerobic respiration
   8. Chemiolitotrophy
   9. The fermentative pathways
   10. Features of autotrophic metabolism
   11. Photosynthesis and its diversity
   12. Metabolic pathways of fungi
   13. Biosynthetic pathways of fungi
   14. Peptidoglycan synthesis
   15. Protein synthesis
   16. DNA synthesis
4. Microbial genetics - Cell growth and differentiation
   1. The concept of transferring genetic information in prokaryotes
   2. Recombination from prokaryotes to eukaryotes
   3. Plasmids
   4. Conjugation,
   5. Transformation
   6. Transduction
   7. Transposable elements
   8. Mutations
   9. The regulation of gene expression: LAC operon
   10. The translational attenuation: the regulation of the TRP synthesis
   11. The cell cycle
   12. The bacterial division
   13. Alternatives to "binary fission"
   14. Vital not cultivable status
   15. The microbial biofilms
   16. The spore and spore-forming bacteria
   17. Fungal life cycle
5. Host parasite relationships
   1. Bacterial infection
   2. Viral infection
   3. Fungal infection and its classification
   4. The host response to infection
6. Diversity and systematics of the microbial world
   1. Special Bacteriology (main features, diseases, chemotherapy and prevention opportunities)
      • The main features of: Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, Neisseria, Branhamella, Mycobacterium, Streptomyces, Nocardia, Actinomyces, Corynebacterium, Lactobacillus, Bartonella, Listeria, Gardnerella, Bacillus, Clostridium, Enterobacteriaceae, Haemophilus, Pasteurella, Vibrio, Legionella, Brucella, Bordetella, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Bacteroides, Campylobacter, Helicobacter, Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma, Chlamydiaceae, Rickettsiaceae, Spirochetaceae.
   2. Special virology (main features, diseases, chemotherapy and prevention opportunities)
      • The main features of: Poxviridae, Herpesviridae, Adenoviridae, Papillomavirus e Polyomavirus umani,Parvoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Picornaviridae, Arenaviridae, Bunyaviridae, Caliciviridae, Coronaviridae, Filoviridae, Flaviridae, Reoviridae, retrovirus umani, Togaviridae e Rubivirus, virus delle epatiti (HAV, HBV, HCV, HDV,HEV, HGV)
   3. Special mycology (main features, diseases, chemotherapy and prevention opportunities)
      • Yeasts: Candida, Cryptoococcus, Malassezia, Pnuemocystis
      • Moulds: Dermatophytes, Mucormycota,Acremonium, Fusarium, Penicillium, Paecilomyces, Scopulariopsis, Aspergillus
      • Dimorphic fungi: Blastomyces, Coccidioides, Paracoccidioides, Histoplasma, Sporothrix, Talaromyces
      • Dematiaceae: major features
7. Infection control. The microbial cultivation techniques. General notions on the prevention of infectious diseases;
   1. Sterilization and disinfection techniques
      • Sterilization by physical methods
      • Sterilization by chemical methods
   2. Preparation of land in the microbiology laboratory
   3. The cultivation of microorganisms: viruses, prokaryotes and eukaryotes
   4. Procedures for the conservation of microorganisms
   5. Sterilization of work environments
   6. Disinfectants
   7. Biosafety
   8. The main antibiotics: mechanism of action and resistance
   9. The main antifungals: mechanism of action and resistance
   10. The main antivirals: mechanism of action and resistance
   11. The vaccines
8. Pharmaceutical production and pharmacopoeia.
   1. Evaluation of the contamination of pharmaceutical products
   2. Evaluation of microbial contamination of non-sterile products
      • Pyrogens and bacterial endotoxins
      • Test for pyrogens
      • Test for bacterial endotoxins (LAL test)
   3. Microbiological assay of antibiotics and other Biological dosage
      • Antibiotics
   4. Microbiological characteristics of pharmaceutical products
      • Pharmaceutical preparations must be sterile
      • Pharmaceutical preparation not necessarily sterile

Carlone, Pompei, Tullio, Microbiologia Farmaceutica III Edizione, Edises

Microbiology - https://courses.lumenlearning.com/microbiology/

Further resources:

Topley & Wilsons' su: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470688 (the link must be used within University of Catania network)