Microbiology

Objectives of the course (preferably expressed in terms of learning outcomes and competences): Basic understanding of microbial cell structure, function and regulatory mechanisms and the exploitation of this knowledge in biotechnology and medicine.

Course contents: The microbial world. Evolutionary significance and contribution to the biosphere. The bacterial cell as the minimal autonomous unit of life. The bacterial cell as a complex chemical machine: components, structures and energy conversion. Information flow from gene to protein-internal and external regulation. Complete bacterial genomes: a recipe for life. Differentiation and evolutionary change. Interactions of bacteria with other organisms-Symbiosis. Microbial ecology and systematics. Archaea, eukaryotic microbes, viruses. Microbes and man: from disease to agriculture to biotechnology.