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, PitE Practical Experience, Biology Lab, and EEB Biodiversity
Meets: Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Instructor: TBD
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.
