4 credits
Prerequisities: BIOLOGY 171 or equivalent (e.g. BIOLOGY 195), two college-level courses in biology, or permission of instructor.
Satisfies requirements for: BS; NS; Biology Lab; EEB Biodiversity
Meets: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Instructors: Melissa Duhaime and Vincent Denef
IMPORTANT: This class finishes on Wednesday, August 2. Students taking this class should plan to stay at the Station until that date.
Course Description
Using samples collected from around northern Michigan, this course covers the basic biology of microbial life, and techniques for working in with microorganisms in a lab environment.
Lecture material in the course is divided into four approximately equal sections: (1) the historical origins of microbiology as a science; bacterial and eukaryal cell structure and function, and bacterial nutrition, cultivation, and carbon and energy metabolism; (2) the molecular biology of bacteria, including DNA replication, transcription and translation, regulation of gene expression, genomics, and bacterial viruses; (3) microbial evolution, metabolic and ecological diversity, nutrient cycles, and symbiotic interactions; and (4) medically related topics, including host-pathogen interactions, epidemiology, immunology, and bacterial, viral, protozoan, and fungal pathogenesis.