Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
BB40117 Microbial evolution - from the laboratory to nature |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Masters |
| Semester: 2 |
| Assessment: CW 50%, EX 50% |
| Requisites: |
| Before taking this unit you must take BB20040 |
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(or equivalent units authorised by the Director of Studies).
Aims & Learning Objectives: Aims: To provide the students with an holistic understanding of the causes and consequences of microbial evolution, by consideration of both experimental and wild populations. After taking this course the student should be able to: * Appreciate basic population genetics principles and phylogenetic methods with respect to bacteria. * Understand the major mechanisms of bacterial molecular evolution; in particular the significance of mobile genetic elements and horizontal gene transfer. * Understand the rationale and applications of microbial experimental evolution. * Appreciate the insights provided by microbial studies into the ecological and genetic causes of evolution. * Integrate methodology and data from epidemiological case studies with theory and experimental data. Content: Syllabus: The main forces shaping bacterial populations, the different kinds of selection pressures, mutation and stochastic forces. The consequences of evolutionary forces over different time scales, from intra-species variation (micro-evolution), to the differences between unrelated species (macro-evolution), and the relevance to the management and epidemiological surveillance of important human pathogens. The relationships between ecology, evolution and epidemiology. Design and analysis of laboratory selection experiments. Theory and data explaining the evolution and maintenance of diversity, the evolution of evolvability, the evolution of altruism, the evolution of virulence and host-parasite coevolution. |