Microbiology

The lectures cover the following topics:

• Up-to-date taxonomy of the Prokaryotes;
• Methods of modern systematics (especially -omis-based models of relationships);
• problems and limits of cultivation and taxonomy;
• Presentation of the important archaeal and bacterial groups
• Structural biology of microbial cells (Bacteria, Archaea)
• Gene regulation in Prokaryotes with specific transcription factors or alternative sigma factors
• Methods to explore gene regulation systems
• Posttranscriptional regulation with small RNAs and special RNA-binding proteins
• Organisation and mechanisms of the CRISPR-Cas systems
• Modern fluorescence-based methods (e.g. single-molecule FRET, superresolution microscopy) to study biomolecules in vivo and in vitro

In the seminar, current research topics will be presented and discussed.
Topics include:

• microbial diversity, methods in microbial ecology and microbial-driven processes of environmental and/or biotechnological relevance
• molecular microbiology with a special focus on transcriptional and posttranscriptional gene regulation

1. At least two lectures in the field of microbiology (for a selection see the course catalogue at the university portal).

• Systematic of the Prokaryotes (winter semester)
• Gene regulation in Prokaryotes (winter semester)
• Synthetic and Applied Microbiology (winter semester)

2. One seminar in the field of microbiology (for a selection see the course catalogue at the university portal).

• Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology (winter semester)
• Transcriptional and posttranscriptional gene regulation in Prokaryotes (summer semester)
• SynMiBi SGM (winter and summer semester)

In the seminar a seminar presentation has to be held and registered in Flexnow as an ungraded study achievement (Studienleistung).

30 min oral examination (graded)

Examiner:

• Prof. Dr Dina Grohmann
• Prof. Dr Winfried Hausner

The student can choose the examiner.

Please get in contact with the examiner of your choice to arrange a date of the oral examination, than register the examination in flexnow.

• Advanced insights in the field of fluorescence-based analysis of biomolecules
• Theoretical and practical knowledge of single-molecule methods in biological research with special emphasis on fluorescence-based techniques like single-molecule FRET, single-molecule pulldown, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) using confocal and TIRF-based microscopes
• Approaches for the site-specific incorporation of fluorescent dyes into proteins
• Incorporation of unnatural amino into prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins for site-specific modification
• Presentation and discussion of own experimental gained data

• Intensive knowledge transfer in the field of molecular microbiology
• Theoretical and practical knowledge about different molecular standard techniques (Isolation of DNA, PCR, cloning, Southern blot Western blot)
• Heterologous expression of proteins
• Chromatographic purification of proteins
• Methods for the analysis of enzymatic activities (e.g. polymerases, nucleases, RNA chaperones)
• Methods for analysis of DNA-protein and RNA-protein interactions using the archaeal transcription machinery and prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas systems as example
• Presentation and discussion of own experimental gained data

• intensive knowledge transfer in the field of organismic microbiology and environmental microbiology
• enrichment and isolation of Bacteria and Archaea from a variety of original samples like sediments, soils, hot springs, black smokers, or animal digestive tracts
• physiological, biochemical and structural characterisation of the isolates
• learning of a broad spectrum of cultivation techniques (e.g. anaerobic technique and working with hyperthermophiles)
• learning of special isolation techniques (e.g. optical tweezers),
• introduction to the ultrastructural characterisation of isolates by electron microscopy
• characterisation of original samples and isolates e.g. by quantitative real-time PCR and sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes
• presentation and discussion of own experimental gained data