MICRO 3102 - Infection & Immunity IIIA (Biomedical Science)

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2015

This advanced course examines the molecular basis of interactions of bacterial pathogens with their environment and various hosts, especially those which infect humans. Bacterial pathogens of global and medical significance that will be highlighted in detail include: Streptococcus pneumonia, Salmonella sp., Shigella sp., Escherichia coli; Mycobacterium; and Neisseria sp. Particular emphasis is given to the use of molecular biological approaches for study of bacterial infectious disease pathogenesis, and biotechnological applications, including vaccine development will also be highlighted. Topics to be explored include: bacterial pathogens - global significance of infectious disease; principal approaches for investigating host-pathogen interactions; virulence factors which promote colonisation and damage to the host; cell surface polysaccharides and proteins; role of antigenic and phase variation in virulence and disease; gene regulation, especially in relation to expression of virulence factors; stress responses; invasion and intracellular survival and multiplication; resistance and avoidance of innate host defences; bacterial toxins; role of bacteriophage and other genetic elements in evolution of pathogenesis; antibiotic resistance; vaccines and therapeutic interventions; genomic approaches to analysis of virulence; food safety microbiology The lecture program is complemented by tutorials, which extend skills in exploring and critically assessing the scientific literature, and practicals which develop advanced experimental skills for the study of bacterial pathogenic mechanisms.

Open All

Course Details

Course Code	MICRO 3102
Course	Infection & Immunity IIIA (Biomedical Science)
Coordinating Unit	School of Biological Sciences
Term	Semester 1
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	6
Contact	Up to 19 hours per fortnight
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	N
Prerequisites	MICRO 2503 & MICRO 2504 or equivalent
Incompatible	MICRO 3000
Restrictions	Available to BSc(BiomedSc) students only
Assessment	Exam on lecture material, practical component activities, performance in symposia/seminars

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Renato Morona

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1	To gain an understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underpin the pathogenesis and control of bacterial infections, and the interaction of bacterial pathogens with the immune system.
2	To gain a body of experimental skills and techniques frequently used in molecular bacteriology research which are fundamental to understanding how research in these disciplines is conducted.
3	To develop essential skills in experimental design, techniques and execution which are highly relevant to solving problem in bacterial pathogenesis and many other areas of scientific research.
4	To develop organisational and time management skills and the capacity for multi-tasking.
5	To foster the ability to work in small teams and to communicate and coordinate outcomes with a larger group of colleagues.
6	To become exposed to experimental processes that develop over many weeks, building up a framework of experience with techniques and concepts that could not readily be obtained in the course of a semester within a single research laboratory.
7	To be adequately educated and mentored through close contact with academic staff.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	1-7
The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner.	1-7
An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.	1-7
Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication.	4,5,7
A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies.	2,3,6
A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life.	1-7
A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community.	2,7
An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities.	1-3,7

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Textbook
No textbook is currrently recommended. Please refer to MyUni for recommended reading.
Practical laborartory
An essential component of the physical fabric is a large modern and well-equipped teaching laboratory, designed and maintained for advanced practical experiments. This laboratory can be at most only marginally removed from research standard and in should be in close proximity to a world-class research environment such as that available within the fabric of the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science. This close juxtaposition of research and undergraduate education is entirely in keeping with the aspirations of a research-intensive university where active research informs and stimulates in the classroom.

Recommended Resources

Recommemded reading will be posted on MyUni.

Online Learning

Teaching materials and course documentation will be posted on the MyUni website (http://myuni.adelaide.edu.au/).

Learning & Teaching Modes

This course will be delivered in the following means:
Internal
3 x 1 hour lectures per week, 1 x 2 hour tutorial per fortnight (total of 5 sessions) 3 x 5 hours practical per fortnight
Practical sessions of 5 hours on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons in odd weeks and 5 hours in even weeks. Practicals include: wet lab sessions and dry lab bioinformatics sessions.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

A student enrolled in a 6 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 24 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

Learning Activities Summary

Week	Type of learning activity	Topic
1	Lecture	Bacteria-host interactions and innate defences
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors
	Tutorial
2	Lecture	Bacteria-host interactions and innate defences Gut pathogens Intracellular bacterial pathogens
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors
	Tutorial	Critical thinking and analysis of primary research papers related to lecture material
3	Lecture	Intracellular bacterial pathogens Bacteria and subversion of host cell biology
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors
	Tutorial
4	Lecture	Cell surface polysacchardies Approaches to studying bacterial pathogens Gene regulation and the host environment
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors
	Tutorial	Critical thinking and analysis of primary research papers related to lecture material
5	Lecture	Antibiotics
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors
	Tutorial
6	Lecture	Antibiotics Vaccines
	Practical	Introduction to Bioinformatics
	Tutorial	Critical thinking and analysis of primary research papers related to lecture material
Mid-Semester Break
7	Lecture	Antigenic and phase variation Bacteriophages and virulence
	Tutorial
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors In silico analysis of gene sequences and sequence manipulation
8	Lecture	Stress responses
	Tutorial	Critical thinking and analysis of primary research papers related to lecture material, , including problem solving questions
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors In silico analysis of gene sequences and sequence manipulation
9	Lecture	Mucosal, skin, and respiratory tract pathogens
	Tutorial
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors In silico analysis of gene sequences and sequence manipulation
10	Lecture	Respiratory tract pathogens Gene expression in vivo
	Tutorial	Critical thinking and analysis of primary research papers related to lecture materia, including problem solving questions
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors In silico analysis of gene sequences and sequence manipulation
11	Lecture	Respiratory tract pathogens Membrane proteins
	Tutorial
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors In silico analysis of gene sequences and sequence manipulation
12	Lecture	Food safety microbiology
	Tutorial
	Practical	Molecular analysis of bacterial virulence factors In silico analysis of gene sequences and sequence manipulation
13*

*Optional teaching week

Small Group Discovery Experience

During the course, students will be given to opportunity to work together to develop answers, strategies and experimental approaches to solve specific research questions. This will take place during both allocated lecture time and tutorial time, and will be guided by experienced academic staff.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Type of assessment	Percentage of total assessmen for grading purposes	Hurdle (Yes/No)	Objective being assessed
Practical reports	Summative	40%	No	BO-1,-2,-3,-4,-5, -6,-7; SO-1,-2,-3,-5
Symposium	Summative	10%	No	BO-1, -8
Exam	Summative	5	No	BO-1,-6, SO-6

Assessment Detail

Exams (50% of course grade).
One exam will be given to test the capacity to comprehend and integrate knowledge from a broad range of topics relevant to the disciplines of bacterial microbiology.
1/3rd of the marks will be on questions of a “problem solving nature” which be posted on MyUni 7-10 days before the exam. This provides students time and resources to research the problem and prepare a solution.
2/3rd of the marks will be by short answer or similar questions.

Symposium/Seminar (10% of course grade)
Assessment will be cohesion, content, performance, and participation, and is determined via the use of a scoring rubrick.

Practicals (40% of course)
Assessment will be by a combination of activities that include one or more of the following:
1) Practical theory question assignment, A series of questions are used to promote reading of the practical manual and the theory behind the methods and reagents used. Online via MyUni. Feed back given before completion of other reports.
2) Daybook. This is used to record all experimental work and results. It is used to write the experimental reports.
3) Wet lab practical experimental reports. Write-up of a simple experiments: assessment of recording, analysis, interpretation and written presentation of experimental data. This first assessment provides feedback on essential skills required for good laboratory practice and for later assessments.
4) Bioinformatics dry exercises and experiments
Divided into 2 to 3 sections with evenly spread, separate submission dates. Assesses ability to handle software, nature of the DNA sequences, identify and analyse sequence motifs, relationship to protein sequence, in silico cloning exercise. Feedback given for each report. Due half of semester that does not have wet prac..

Submission

Submission Guidelines
It is your responsibility to ensure that your work is submitted on time. All assessments (except daybook) are to be submitted electronically (the study questions are located on MyUni). In the case of the Experimental Summaries and Bioinformatics assessments, you will use the provided templates and submit your completed work via the relevant submission links MyUni. Note that The Experimental summaries will be submitted via a “Turnitin submission link” to check for plagiarism (see page XXVIII) and if evidence of plagiarism is detected, you may be penalised up to and including a zero mark for the assessment in question.

Late submission of assessments
If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days or more late without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the mark.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator