Bio 431 Bacterial Pathogenesis

Course Logistics

Prerequisites 

BIO101/102, BIO 358, and junior or senior standing. It would be helpful if you have taken BIO 356.

Learning Objectives

After successful completion of the course students will be able to:

• Discuss bacterial anatomy and physiology necessary to cause disease
• Evaluate and constructively criticize primary research articles
• Demonstrate oral presentation and discussion skills
• Formulate relevant, and testable research hypotheses

Class Meetings

The class will meet on Wednesdays from 7:10 to 9:00 PM in Biology B-200A.

Each week, the leader(s) of the discussion will be responsible for presenting, and discussing the chosen research article from the primary literature.  This will include presenting the appropriate background information so that the participants fully understand the questions posed, and the experimentation performed by the authors addressing the questions. It is the responsibility of the "listening" participants not just to listen.  You must also participate!  I will do my best to insure we are all "up to speed" prior to plunging into the chosen article(s). You will also be required to write a brief research proposal. 

Journals and Background Reading

Journals from which we will choose articles include: Science, Nature, Molecular Microbiology, Infection and Immunity, Journal of Bacteriology, Microbiology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA and PLOS Pathogens.

Copies of Brock Biology of Microorganisms by Madigan, Martinko and Parker, 11th edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2006, and Microbiology by Willey, Sherwood and Woolverton, 7th edition, McGraw Hill, Inc., 2008, are on reserve in the library for anyone wishing to do some review reading.

Short research proposal

In the final week, each participant will be responsible for formulating a short research proposal. From the articles discussed, or an interesting area not addressed, the participants will describe the background and significance, propose the hypothesis, and briefly describe the experimentation necessary to test the hypothesis. It will be due on Thursday, December 19th.

Evaluation