MICROBIOLOGY AND IMMUNOLOGY
ACADEMIC YEAR2008/2009
COD. 00717
dati insegnamento:
DEGREE: MEDICINA VETERINARIA
TYPE OF COURSE: COMPULSORY SUBJECTS, CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CLASS
LECTURERS:
ACADEMIC YEAR: 2008/2009
YEAR OF STUDY: 2
SEMESTER: First semester
NUMBER OF CREDITS: 4
UNIT COORDINATOR: OSSIPRANDI Maria Cristina
CONTACT HOURS: 60
Learning outcomes of the course unit
The student is expected to acquire basic knowledge of bacterial cells, viruses and immune phenomena.
Course contents summary
BACTERIOLOGY
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Shape, size, spatial arrangement.
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Structure of the prokaryotic cell: nucleus, cytoplasm, cytoplasmatic inclusions, ribosomes, plasmids, cytoplasmatic membrane, mesosomes, gram-positive and gram-negative walls, flagellum, adhesion organs, capsules, antigens.
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Wall-defective bacteria: protoplasts, spheroplasts, L-forms.
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Nutrition and metabolism: energy production, aerobiosis and anaerobiosis, respiration and fermentation, biosynthesis of the main cell elements.
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Culture: chemical-physical factors affecting bacterial replication, simple and complex, liquid and solid, enriching and selective isolating culture media.
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Reproduction: splitting, growth curve and chemical-physical factors affecting it.
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Bacterial identification.
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General taxonomic characteristics: staphylococci, streptococci, corynebacteria, bacilli, clostridia, listeriae, actinomycetes, campylobacters, enterobacteria, moraxellae, bordetellae, neisseriae, pseudomonas, alcaligenes, aeromonas, vibrios, yersiniae, pasteurellae, brucellae, hemophyli, spirochete, mycobacteria, rickettsias, chlamydias, mycoplasmas.
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Genetics: mutations, recombinations, (transformation, conjugation, transduction), phagic conversion, R plasmids and pathogenicity plasmids (pilus-like structures, Col, Ent, Hly).
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Biotechnology: basic concepts and techniques.
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Pathogenic action: pathogenicity, virulence, infectivity, receptivity, infection, disease, healthy carrier; pathogenicity factors (adhesion structures, invasive factors, anti-phagocytic defence, endo- and exotoxin elaboration).
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Molecular techniques applied to diagnosis of infectious diseases: basic concepts.
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Genesis and evolution of an infectious disease: primary lesion, dissemination, tropisms.
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Basic knowledge of disinfection: aims, limits, main classes of disinfectants.
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Antibiotics: classes and mechanisms of action.
VIROLOGY
- Chemical composition, size and structure of complex, cubic-helical symmetry viruses, capsid, capsomers, peplos, peplomers
- Bacteriophages: morphology and structure, lytic cycle and lysogenic cycle.
- Interaction between viruses and eukaryotic cells attachment, penetration, replication, maturation, release
- Culture: tissue cultures, cell cultures, animals, embryonated eggs. Viral replication culture and detection methods.
- Virus titration: physical, biological, hemagglutination methods.
- General taxonomic characteristics of DNA and RNA viruses .
- Non-conventional infectious diseases
IMMUNOLOGY
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Non-specific protection mechanisms of the skin and mucosa: structure, integrity, dynamic phenomena, normal bacterial flora.
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Phagocytosis: professional and occasional phagocytes, opsonins, phagocytosis mechanisms, fate of phagocyted microorganisms, survival consequences.
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Antigens: chemical-physical characters, determinants or epitopes, haptenes and carriers, immunogenicity, thymus-dependent and thymus-independent antigens.
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Humoral immunity: primary and secondary lymphoid organs, lymphocyte classes, antibody production, structure and classes of immunoglobulins, distribution.
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Local and cell-mediated
Recommended readings
ABBAS A.K., LICHTMAN A.H., POBER S.J.: Immunologia cellulare e molecolare, Piccin, Padova, 1993.
DAVIS B.D., DULBECCO R., EISEN H.N., GINSBERG H.S: Microbiology, Harper and Row, Hagerstown, IV ed.
POLI G., COCILOVO A.: Microbiologia e Immunologia Veterinaria, Utet, Torino, 2005.