Course: 11:126:491, Microbial Ecology and Biodiversity (3 credits)

Normally offered: Fall 2005 semester by Dr. Beth Ravit who will be course coordinator (Dr. Barkay on Sabbatical)

Pre-requisites and other registration restrictions: General Microbiology; limited to 20 students.

Format: Lecture. Two 80 minutes lectures aweek.

Description: The course introduces students to microbial life in natural environments by focusing on the diversity of microbes and their interactions in soils, aquatic systems, the plant and animal body. Current issues in Microbial ecology and state-of-the-arts methodologies are stressed. While the scientific basis governing processes and interactions is the focus of the course, frequent references are made to the implications of the described phenomena to man’s ability to manage his environment. The course is divided to four sections:

Introduction – Historical perspective, origin of life, methods in microbial ecology

Genetic diversity – The tree of life, enzyme diversity, genomics

Metabolic diversity – Microbial metabolism in the environment, biogeochemical cycles,

interactions of microbes with metals

Ecosystem diversity – Microbial interactions, effect of a biotic factors, life in aquatic and

terrestrial environments

Examinations: Three mid-term exams account for 60% of the final grade. One final exam.

Other requirements: A term project is submitted in a hard copy format as well as presented via poster or powerpoint to the class. The term project grade accounts for 40% of the final grade.

NOTE: The above information is being provided to give potential students a general idea about the course. Specific details may change from semester to semester, and will be provided by the instructor in the course syllabus.

Additional information: Additional information for Fall 2005 can be obtained by emailing Dr. Ravit at bravit@attglobal.net