Academics Microbiology

Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of organisms that are too small to be seen with the unaided eye: prokaryotes (eubacteria and archaebacteria), viruses, and unicellular eukaryotes.

Microorganisms thrive in every corner of the world, from Antarctic ice (< 0 degrees C) to deep-sea thermal vents (> 100 degrees C); from the gastrointestinal tracts and skin of animals to the root nodules of leguminous plants; from sewage treatment plants to pristine lakes and streams. To study microbiology is to pursue the breadth of biology, as microorganisms provide experimental material for understanding physiology; cell structure and function; biochemistry; molecular biology; photosynthesis; ecology; evolution; genetics; development; and even simple behavioral responses and "memory." Studies with microorganisms continue to lay the foundation for molecular genetics, recombinant DNA research, biotechnology, environmental sciences, and many areas of biochemistry.

Faculty members in the Department of Microbiology are actively engaged in a variety of areas of contemporary research, including environmental microbiology and ecology, bacterial structure and function, evolution of metabolic pathways, biochemistry of methane production and dinitrogen fixation, physiology of rumen bacteria, genetics and physiology of inorganic nitrogen metabolism, molecular biology of plant-microbe interactions, and biochemistry of bacterial RNA polymerase.

Upper-level course offerings in microbiology reflect these interests, and include courses in environmental microbiology, structure and function of bacterial cells, microbial physiology, bacterial diversity; rumen microbiology, bacterial genetics, genetics of bacterial diversity, and protein-nucleic acid interactions.

The microbiology Program of Study provides excellent preparation for graduate study in many areas of biological science, as well as for professional study in medical, veterinary, or dental school. Graduates with bachelor's degrees can pursue careers in biotechnology or industrial microbiology, environmental microbiology, clinical microbiology, food microbiology, or pharmaceutical microbiology, and can also work as technicians in university, government, industrial, or hospital research laboratories.

Required Courses for Program of Study in Microbiology:

Students must complete:

• BIOMI 2900, General Microbiology, Lectures
• BIOMI 2910, General Microbiology, Laboratory
• At least 8 additional credits are required which must include at least one of the following courses:
• BIOMI 4140, Bacterial Diversity
• BIOMI 4160, Bacterial Physiology
• BIOMI 4180, Microbial Ecology
• BIOMI 4850, Bacterial Genetics
• Additional approved courses are included in the lists below. Students are invited to complete their requirements in one of three areas of interest (these are only recommended areas of interest; students can design their own course list as long as they meet the requirements described above): i) Prokaryotic Biology, ii) Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, and iii) Pathogenic Microbiology. Courses acceptable to the Program of Study that cover topics related to a particular area of interest are:
• Prokaryotic Biology
• BIOMI 3910, Advanced Microbiology Laboratory
• BIOMI 4140, Bacterial Diversity
• BIOMI 4160, Bacterial Physiology
• BIOMI 4180, Microbial Ecology
• Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology
• BIOMI 3910, Advanced Microbiology Laboratory
• BIOMI 3940, Applied and Food Microbiology
• BIOMI 4160, Bacterial Physiology
• BIOMI 4200, Microbial Genomics
• BIOMI 4850, Bacterial Genetics
• Pathogenic Microbiology
• BIOMI 4040, Pathogenic Bacteriology and Mycology
• BIOMI 4090, Principles of Virology
• BIOMI 4310, Medical Parasitology
• BIOMI 4850, Bacterial Genetics