Biology of Phototrophic Bacteria

elective courses

The course "Biology of phototrophic bacteria" covers issues related to the diversity, evolution, structure, occurrence, and role of phototrophic bacteria in the natural environment and their impact on human and animal health. Representatives of various taxonomic and ecological groups of phototrophic bacteria as well as phototrophic bacteria forming toxic and non-toxic blooms will be discussed.

Lecture:

As part of it, the types of autotrophy and phototrophy will be discussed, followed by the phylogeny, taxonomy and diversity of phototrophic bacteria. The biology of anoxygenic and oxygenic phototrophic bacteria (cyanobacteria), their role in shaping the environment (including oxygen conditions on Earth and Great Oxidation Event) and methods of their study will be presented. The occurrence of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria and cyanobacteria in various environments, including extreme conditions (water, soil, hot springs, microbial mats, biological soil crusts in hot and cold deserts, symbiotic systems, etc.) will be discussed. Ecophysiological properties, occurrence, and diversity of picocyanobacteria - the smallest and the most numerous oxygenic photoautotrophs will be presented.

The genetic basis of cyanobacterial toxicity and the evolution of toxicity genes will be discussed followed by types of cyanobacterial toxins and their impact on other organisms, including human. Students will learn about the causes and mechanisms of cyanobacterial bloom formation and methods of cyanobacterial toxicity testing and cyanobacterial bloom mitigation. The influence of climate on bacterial phototrophic communities will be discussed. Application of cyanobacteria and anoxygenic phototrophs in biotechnology and medicine presented.

Practical:

Classes will concern the diversity of phototrophic bacteria and their habitats. Students will learn the sampling methods of water, soil and from transition environments, methods of storage, isolation and cultivation of oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria on liquid and solid media. Students will learn how to identify phototrophic bacteria using light, straight and inverted microscopes, biometrics and fluorescence. They will get acquainted with the methods of molecular identification of various taxonomic groups and with the methods of studying their relationships. Based on organisms isolated from environment and strains from culture collections, they will learn how to identify toxic and non-toxic representatives of cyanobacteria. Students will also learn about the methods of determining the number and biomass of phototrophic bacteria based on photosynthetic pigments: chlorophyll a, phycocyanin and bacteriochlorophyll, and methods of analyzing cyanobacterial toxins.

Hallenbeck P.C. Modern Topics on Phototrophic Procaryotes. Environmental and Applied Aspects. Springer Int Publishin Switzerland. 2017

MadiganM.T., Martinko J.J. Dunlup Clark. Brock biology of microorganisms, wyd. Pearson Int. Edition 12-th editiona, 2009

Pliński M., Komarek J. Sinice – Cyjanobakterie Zatoki Gdańskiej I Bałtyku Południoweg. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. Gdańsk 2017

Whitton B.A. The Ecology of Cyanobacteria II. Their diversity in time and space. Springer Dordrecht Heidelber New York London 2012

Materials received during the classes.

Knowledge.

1. K_W03 - Knows the structural, genetic, metabolic and functional diversity of prokaryotic organisms and their mutual relationships

2. K_W04 - Understands the mutual relations between phototrophic bacteria and the environment, applying hypotheses regarding the temporal and spatial conditions of biological diversity.

3. K_W06 - Knows the specialist concepts of microbiological terminology, biology of phototrophic bacteria and relevant literature in these areas

4. K_W11 - Understands the relationship between prokaryotic organisms. Knows the methodology that allows to determine the phylogenetic relationship between these organisms.

5. K-W12 - Knows advanced laboratory, measurement and imaging techniques used in microbiological research

Skills

1. K_U01- Selects and applies research techniques and tools adequate to the problems of biology of phototrophic bacteria.

2. K_U02- Uses the basic methods and techniques used in fieldwork in the natural environment

3. K_U03 - Uses scientific and popular science biological texts in the native language and English in a fluent manner and communicates in English at the B2+ level

4. K_U04 - Demonstrates the ability to critically analyze and select biological information, especially from electronic sources and media.

5. K_U09 - Critically presents research work in the field of the selected specialty of biological sciences with the use of verbal communication and multimedia

Social competence.

1. K_K03 - Is able to provide the society with knowledge about the latest achievements in natural sciences and explain the legitimacy of conducting basic scientific research in the field of biology of phototrophic bacteria

2. K_K06 - Applies the principles of research ethics, resolving dilemmas related to the practice of the profession.

3. K_K07 - Feels the need for constant training and updating knowledge, using scientific and popular science sources on the biology of phototrophic bacteria.

Written exam with test and open questions to which the student is admitted based on passing the practical classes. 55% pass mark. 65% of the final grade is the result of the exam, 35% of the exercise: 25% of the test and 10% of the work evaluation during the exercises