Admission requirements
Basic knowledge of microbiology, evolutionary biology or ecology.
Description
The course covers various aspects of the important role of microorganisms in their natural environments. This includes the role of bacteria and fungi in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, the cooperative and antagonistic interactions among microbes and with plant and animal hosts, the role of microorganisms in food chains and nutrient cycles, antagonist-plant pathogen interactions, and the evolutionary and ecological aspects of microbial diversification and community interactions. The course teaches modern approaches to detect and understand the processes that give rise to and maintain the diversity of microbial communities. Specialists in various fields of microbial evolution and ecology, both scientists from the IBL and guest speakers from other universities and research institutes will contribute to the course lectures. Practicals will develop knowledge and skills that complement the lecture material.
Course objectives
After completion of the course, students are able to:
Explain the beneficial and harmful roles of microorganisms in natural systems.
Explain the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms by which microorganisms interact with each other and with plants or animals as pathogens, commensals and mutualists.
List different evolutionary and ecological mechanisms regulating microbial diversity and can discuss how these interactions evolved and are coordinated at a community level.
Measure and isolate microbial communities from natural sources.
Explain how microbiomes are shaped and can carry out analyses of microbiome composition.
Design and conduct experiments in microbial ecology and evolution and analyze microbial community data.
Discuss the development and consequences of microbiome engineering for plant and animal health.
Analyze scientific publications by identifying hypotheses, methodologies, results, and conclusions, and evaluate the validity and significance of the findings.
Produce a clear, coherent, and well-structured scientific report that adheres to the conventions of scientific publication formats, demonstrating proper use of academic language, referencing, and data presentation.
Schedule
The timetables are available through MyTimetable (see the button in the upper right corner). See Brightspace for a detailed schedule.
Teaching method
Lectures (attendance is mandatory) and practicals (attendance is mandatory).
Assesment method
Written exam (60%) and practical reports (40%)
The final mark for the course is established by (i) determination of the weighted average of the partial grades combined with (ii) a minimum assessment of 5.5 for each partial grade.
Resit, review & feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest.
Reading list
Relevant scientific publications provided by the lecturers.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap (button in upper right corner) is mandatory. General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
Coördinator: Prof. D. Rozen and Dr. I. Nuñez Santiago
E-mail: d.e.rozen@biology.leidenuniv.nl and i.nunez.santiago@biology.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
Lecture and practical attendance is compulsory.
Software
The Faculty of Science uses the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.