MICROBIOLOGY

Get to know the bacterial cell structures in depth.

Know the main eukaryotes and metazoans 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

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
2. Fungi, Algae, Protozoa and Helminths
   1. Fungi
      1. Characteristics of fungi and their metabolism
      2. The role of fungi in the environment and industry
      3. Important fungi from the health point of view
   2. Algae
      1. Algae Features
      2. The main phylum of pharmaceutical interest
   3. Protozoa
      1. Characteristics of Protozoa
      2. The important protozoa from the health point of view
   4. Helminths
      1. Characteristics of Helminths
      2. Flatworms: Flukes and Tapeworms
      3. Nematodes
3. 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
4. Bacterial metabolism
   1. Bacterial nutrition and nutritional classification of bacteria
   2. The glycolytic pathways
   3. The gluconeogenesis
   4. Sugars alternative to glucose sugars:
      1. 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:
      1. Oxidative phosphorylation (Aerobic and microaerobic respiration)
      2. The anaerobic respiration
   8. Chemiolitotrophy
   9. The fermentative pathways
   10. Features of autotrophic metabolism
   11. Photosynthesis and its diversity
   12. Peptidoglycan synthesis
   13. Protein synthesis
   14. DNA synthesis
5. 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
6. Host parasite relationships
   1. Bacterial infection
   2. Viral infection
   3. Fungal infection and its classification
   4. Parasitic infection
   5. The host response to infection
7. Diversity and systematics of the microbial world
   1. Special Bacteriology (main features, pathogenicity and diseases, prevention opportunities and chemotherapy )
      1. 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, pathogenicity and diseases, prevention opportunities and chemotherapy )
      1. 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)
8. Infection control. The microbial cultivation techniques. General notions on the prevention of infectious diseases;
   1. Sterilization and disinfection techniques
      1. Sterilization with physical methods
      2. Sterilization with 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
      1. Objectives and methods of carrying out disinfection
      2. Targets and mechanisms of action of disinfectants
      3. Types of disinfectants
      4. Methods for assessing the effectiveness and activity of disinfectants
   7. Biosafety
      1. Decree Law 81/2008 and its amendments: the microbiological risk
   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 main antiparasitics: mechanism of action and resistance
   12. The vaccines
9. Pharmaceutical production and pharmacopoeia. The microbiological quality control. Principles of diagnosis for food microbiology and environmental microbiology in the health sector
   1. Evaluation of the contamination of pharmaceutical products
      1. Sterility test
   2. Evaluation of microbial contamination of non-sterile products
      1. Pyrogens and bacterial endotoxins
      2. Test for pyrogens
      3. Test for bacterial endotoxins (LAL test)
   3. Microbiological assay of antibiotics and other Biological dosage
      1. Antibiotics
      2. Other
      3. Interferons assays
   4. Microbiological characteristics of pharmaceutical products
      1. Pharmaceutical preparations must be sterile
      2. Pharmaceutical preparation not necessarily sterile
   5. Sterilization of pharmaceutical products
      1. Sterilization methods applicable to pharmaceutical products
      2. Biological sterilization indicators
      3. Use of antimicrobial preservatives in pharmaceutical preparations
   6. Good preparation of medicines
      1. Features of the environment
      2. Staff
      3. Raw materials
   7. Preparation of medicines in the pharmacy
   8. Cosmetic products.
   9. Quality control in the clinical microbiology laboratory
      1. ISO and UNI EN procedures
   10. Procedures for microbiological food control
       1. Risk and risk management
       2. The HACCP system
       3. The concept of limit
       4. Current legislation
   11. Environmental control in the healthcare environment
       1. Application scope
       2. Sampling techniques
          1. Air
          2. Surfaces
          3. water
          4. Other
       3. Microbiological evaluation of samples
          1. Cultivation techniques Cultivation techniques
          2. Independent culture techniques
          3. Molecular independent culture techniques
       4. Current legislation

Prescott's Microbiology (Paperback) 10th Ed. ISBN-10: 9813151269 SBN-13: 978-9813151260 (acquistabile su Amazon.com)

Brock. Biologia dei microrganismi -Microbiologia generale, ambientale e industriale • 14/Ed. • Con MyLab + Pearson eText

Dehò - Galli Biologia dei microrganismi - Casa editrice ambrosiana

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)