Course Title

Advanced microbiology

Course Number

424513

Instructor Name

Motasem Al-Masri

Contact Information

[email protected]

Semester(s) and academic year(s)

Second Semester 2017
Second Semester 2010

Compulsory / Elective

Compulsory

BIOL 424513 is an advanced microbiology course that will cover the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens cause infections in humans. This course will not, however, make an attempt to cover every bacterial disease known to man or to describe in great detail the symptoms and treatment of each disease. Instead, the material covered will focus on the general mechanisms of virulence with examples from a select number of well-studied bacterial pathogens and will emphasize the interactions and interplay between these bacteria and their hosts. It is hoped that the student will come away with a general knowledge of the various strategies that bacteria use to survive and multiply within their host, and in turn, the strategies used by the host to fend off infections by bacterial pathogens. In addition, considerable time will be devoted to the means by which bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, methods of detecting resistance genes, and the latest findings on resistance or susceptibility specific to particular groups of bacteria. Understanding resistance mechanisms is the foundation for more rational design of new antibiotics that are themselves resistant to resistance mechanisms.

The course is designed to foster a comprehensive understanding of selected subjects like cell surface structures of prokaryotes, and typing techniques of pathogens. The course will also discuss in detail the pathogenesis and virulence factors of different microorganisms like Helicobacter pylori and Escherichia coli. The challenge of  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus  will be studied. There will be a study of isolation and characterization of toxins produced by certain bacteria. The course will also provide the students with basic concepts and understanding of mechanisms of resistance to certain antibiotics like aminoglycoside and β -Lactam.

At the end of this course students will be able to

1. describe the structure of cell wall of different types of bacteria.

2. discus the different phenotypic and genotypic approaches for microbial typing.

3. describe the pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of infections such as those caused by Helicobacter pylori , methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Bordetella pertussis, and  Escherichia coli.   

4. Recognize the mechanisms of action and resistant to certain antibiotics such as aminoglycoside, and β -Lactam antibiotics.

5. understand, and present up to date microbiological problems independently.  

Textbooks. The second edition of the textbooks entitled Advanced Techniques in Diagnostic Microbiology by Yi-Wei Tang, Charles W. Stratton (2006), Bacterial Resistance to Antimicrobials by Richard G. Wax, Kim Lewis Abigail A. Salyers, Harry Taber (2008) and Prescott, Harley, & Klein’s Microbiology, 8^th Ed, 2011

 will be the primary recommended reference textbooks for this course, and you will be responsible for the assigned material in it.

 However, due to the ever-growing expansion of research in bacterial pathogenesis and resistance to antimicrobials, please keep in mind that there will be many concepts and discussions of materials and topics that are not presented in the textbook, but which will be covered in Clinical Microbiology Reviews.