Coner

MB 451 Microbial Diversity

Department of Microbiology - NC State University

Home | Announcements | Course Info | Lectures | Labs | Exams | Term Project | Grades | ~~~null pyro

Lectures


Schedule

This schedule very tentative and is subject to continuous change as the semester progresses; click on the title of any posted lecture to go to that lecture page.

Date Format Topic Status
Audio
Jan 7 Lecture 1 Introduction Updated 1/7/09
 

Jan 9 Discussion 1 Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor Updated 1/23/09
audio
Jan 12 Lecture 2 Context & Historical Baggage Posted 1/4/09
audio
Jan 14 Lecture 3 Molecular Clocks Posted 1/4/09
audio
Jan 16 Discussion 2 How the Lab Isolations Work Posted 1/4/09
audio
Jan 19 NO CLASS MLK Day  
 
Jan 21 Lecture 4 Constructing Phylogenetic Trees Posted 1/4/09
 

Jan 23 Discussion 3 Problem Set Workshop Posted 1/4/09
 

Jan 26 Lecture 5 Tree Construction Alternatives Updated 1/25/09
audio
Jan 28 Lecture 6 Other Phylogenetic approaches Updated 1/25/09
audio
Jan 30 Discussion 4 Exam Study Session Posted 1/30/09
audio
Feb 2 Lecture 7 The Tree of Life Posted 1/4/09
audio
Feb 4 Exam Midterm Exam #1  
 
Feb 6 Discussion 5 Hot Springs of Yellowstone Posted 1/4/09
audio
Feb 9 Lecture 8 Primitive Thermophilic Bacteria Posted 1/11/09
audio
Feb 11 Lecture 9 Green Phototrophic Bacteria Posted 1/11/09
audio
Feb 13 Discussion 6 Nanobacteria Revised 2/11/09
audio
Feb 16 Lecture 10 Proteobacteria Posted 1/13/09
audio
Feb 18 Lecture 11 Gram-positive Bacteria Posted 1/20/09
audio
Feb 20 Discussion 7 Detection of Yersina pestis DNA in ancient teeth Posted 1/7/09
audio
Feb 23 Lecture 12 Spirochaetes & Bacteroids Updated 2/22/09
audio
Feb 25 Lecture 13 Deinococci, Planctomycetes & Chlamydia Posted 1/27/09
audio
Feb 27 NO CLASS Discussion session canceled  
 
Mar 2 NO CLASS Spring Break  
 
Mar 4 NO CLASS Spring Break  
 
Mar 6 NO CLASS Spring Break  
  
Mar 9 Lecture 14 Bacterial Phyla with Few or No Cultivated Members Updated 3/9/09
audio
Mar 11 Lecture 16 Archaea Posted 1/28/09
audio
Mar 13 Discussion 8 The Term Project Posted 1/7/08
audio
Mar 16 Lecture 17 Microbial Eukaryotes Revised 3/11/09
audio
Mar 18 Lecture  9 Viruses & Prions Revised 3/19/09
audio
Mar 20 Discussion  9 Exam Study Session Posted 3/10/09
audio
Mar 23 Exam Midterm Exam #2  
 
Mar 25 Lecture 18 Molecular Ecology: Basic Sequence-based Approaches Posted 3/23/09
audio
Mar 27 Discussion 10 Programmed cell death and colony growth in Streptomyces Posted 3/26/09
audio
Mar 30 Lecture 19 Molecular Ecology: Advanced Sequence-based Approaches Posted 3/30/09
audio
Apr 1 Lecture 20 Molecular Ecology: Population-based Approaches Posted 3/30/09
audio
Apr 3 Discussion 11 Pelagibacter ubique / SAR11 Posted 3/2/09
audio
Apr 6 Lecture 21 Linking Phylotype and Phenotype Posted 3/31/09
audio
Apr 8 Lecture 22 Genomics, Comparative Genomics, & Metagenomics Posted 4/5/09
audio
Apr 10 NO CLASS Spring Holiday  
 
Apr 13 Lecture 23 Bacterial Cell Biology Posted 4/10/09
audio
Apr 15 Lecture 24 Microbial Symbiosis Posted 4/10/09
audio
Apr 17 Discussion 12 The deep sea vent scaly snail Posted 4/14/09
audio
Apr 20 Lecture 25 Microbial Multicellularity Posted 4/18/09
audio
Apr 22 Lecture 26 The Origin & Early Evolution of Life Posted 4/21/09
audio
Apr 24 Discussion 13 Final Exam Study Session Posted 4/21/09
audio
May 4 Exam Final Exam - 8:00AM  
 

Location

Lectures will be at 11:20am in 2312 Williams.

Format

Lecture Sessions

The format of the Monday and Wednesday lectures is traditional. The lecture series can be divided into three very different sections:

Part 1 - Molecular Phylogenetics
The first section begins with some preliminaries; defining the scope of the course, defining the perspective, providing a historical context, &c. The main part of this section is a practical guide to molecular phylogenetic analysis, focusing on how to create and interpret phylogenetic trees, and a overview of “the Tree of Life”.

Part 2 - Microbial Survey
The second section is a tour through each of the major phylogenetic groups of Bacteria and Archaea (microbial eukaryotes and viruses are also covered briefly), discussing the general properties of the organisms in each group, and describing in more detail some specific representatives. One or two general topics raised by these organisms will be discussed in each lecture.

Part 3 - Microbial Ecology & Complexity
The third section is more conceptual and experimentally defined, making heavy use of the primary research literature. This section discusses how molecular phylogenetic analysis is used by microbiologists, from identification of unknown and potentially uncultivable organisms, to molecular surveys of populations, and linking processes with specific organisms. This leads to a discussion of various conceptual aspects of microbial complexity, from genomics and cell biology.

Discussion Sessions

The discussion sessions are Fridays, and are used to review background material, go over problem sets or exams, hash over difficult concepts from different angles, chat about microbiologically-oriented things in the news, interesting scientific papers, etc. The format of these discussion sessions is informal, being student-driven on a daily basis.


Textbook

There is no formal textbook for this course; no good text exists! Whatever book you used in MB 351, or any other recent, good general microbiology textbook, can serve in this course for background information. The best of these is Brock Biology of Microorganisms.


Attendance Policy

Attendance in lectures is strongly encouraged, but attendance will not be recorded or used in determining grades.

Students who are absent without a formal excuse are still subject to exam and assignment deadlines and late fines. Students who are absent with a formal excuse will be given one extra week to turn in their assignments or take exams, or as negotiated with the instructor.

University attendance policy (http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/pols_regs/REG205.00.4.php)

Last updated April 24, 2009 by James W Brown