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Environmental Microbiology

* Exchange students do not have to consider this information when selecting suitable courses for an exchange stay.

Course Unit Code546-0110/01
Number of ECTS Credits Allocated4 ECTS credits
Type of Course Unit *Compulsory
Level of Course Unit *Second Cycle
Year of Study *Second Year
Semester when the Course Unit is deliveredWinter Semester
Mode of DeliveryFace-to-face
Language of InstructionCzech
Prerequisites and Co-Requisites Course succeeds to compulsory courses of previous semester
Name of Lecturer(s)Personal IDName
VOJ195doc. Mgr. Hana Vojtková, Ph.D.
Summary
The course builds on the knowledge gained within the Bachelor general and specialised microbiology courses and expands it via a generalisation of the microorganisms’ status in nature, species diversity and relations among the microorganisms’ populations within the ecosystems. The specialisation of the course mirrors the role of modern microbiology, i.e. a multi-disciplinary field on the boundary of ecological, biological and technical sciences.
The course focuses on the microbiology of ecosystems. Students learn about the significance of microorganisms in a wider ecological context, the typology of microorganisms as for their phenotypes and genotypes, including modern databases, modern information sources, the options of their practical application in modern biotechnologies; some lectures will be dedicated to practical applications of microorganisms to detect mutagens in the environment and their role in environmental technologies and biotechnological methods.
Learning Outcomes of the Course Unit
The target competences lie in gaining new knowledge and its application in dealing with problems, observations, experiments and in communication:
- to characterize phenotypic and genotypic features of basic microorganism groups
- to understand the status of microorganisms in the ecosystems, to be familiar with natural systems and understand the phylogenetic and biotic relations of the different groups
- to understand the role of microorganisms within the species diversity and factors affecting its stability within an ecosystem
- to understand the significance of microorganisms in the circulation of substances in the environment
- to be able to evaluate the suitability of a particular microorganism for specific biotechnological procedure with regard to ecological consequences of such a decision
- to be able to apply the gained knowledge in doing practical tasks in seminars, to evaluate the consequences of a particular feature from the ecological, sanitary and economic points of view; to build a positive attitude to nature
- to be able to work independently on the set tasks, to observe and objectively record the experiment results, to adhere to safe (aseptic) work principles when working with biological material and technical equipment
- to be able to synthetize the obtained experimental data and to justify own approach to dealing with a biological problem
Course Contents
1. Introduction to microbiology studies, important historical discoveries, perspectives of modern microbiology
2. Chemical structure and general structure of a microbial cell, differences in the structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms
3. The physiology of microorganisms – the basics
4. The metabolism of microorganisms, the methods of energy use by microorganisms
5. Genetics of microorganisms, interactions of microorganisms and the environment
6. Acellular forms – viroids and prions, the pathogenicity of prions, EU preventive measures
7. Acellular organisms – viruses
8. Cellular microorganisms – archea
9. Cellular microorganisms – bacteria, overview of significant strains of bacteria and their exploitation in environmental practice
10. Microscopic fungi, life cycles and importance of microscopic fungi, mycotoxins and mycoalergia

10. Microorganisms in the air – aeromicrobiology
11. Soil as an environment of microorganisms, consequences of anthropogenic pollution in microorganisms populations, ecological function of microorganisms
12. Water microbiology and indicators of hygienic importance
13. Response of microorganisms to environmental changes, ecological function of microorganisms, use of microorganisms in environment revitalization
Recommended or Required Reading
Required Reading:
VOTAVA, Miroslav. Lékařská mikrobiologie obecná. Brno: Neptun, 2005. 351 s. ISBN 80-86850-00-5
VOTAVA, Miroslav. Lékařská mikrobiologie speciální. Brno: Neptun, 2003. 495 s. ISBN 80-902896-6-5
BLACK, Jacquelyn G. Microbiology: Principles and Explorations. 7th edition. John Wiley and Sons, 2008. 846 p. ISBN: 978-0470107485 978-1118743164
COWAN, Marjorie K. Microbiology: A Systems Approach. McGraw-Hill College, 2011. 880 s. ISBN 978-00735225242
HOGG, Stuart. Essential Microbiology. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd., 2005. Dostupné z: http://www.grsmu.by/files/file/university/cafedry/microbiologii-virysologii-immynologii/files/essential_microbiology.pdf
SEDLÁČEK, I. Taxonomie prokaryot. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2007. 270 s. ISBN 80-210-4207-9
ŠIMONOVIČOVÁ, A., E. PIECKOVÁ, P. FERIANC, P. HANAJÍK a R. HORVÁTH. Environmentálna mikrobiológia. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave, 2013. 26 s. ISBN 978-80-223-3382-5
FEKETOVÁ, Z., A. ŠIMONOVIČOVÁ, K. SCHWARZKOPFOVÁ a H. VOJTKOVÁ. Mikrobiálne indikátory a mikroorganizmy v substrátoch environmentálnych záťaží. Ostrava: VŠB – TU, 2017. ISBN 978-80-248-4129-8
VOJTKOVÁ, H. Sbírka mikroorganismů: Atlas mikroorganismů. Ostrava: VŠB-TUO, ©2021. Dostupné z: https://www.hgf.vsb.cz/546/cs/veda-a-vyzkum/sbirka-mikroorganismu/
Recommended Reading:
ALBERTS, Bruce et al. Essential Cell Biology. New York: Garland Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8153-4130-7
GLAZER, Alexander N. a Hiroshi NIKAIDO. Microbial Biotechnology: Fundamentals of Applied Mikrobiology. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. xvii, 554 s. ISBN 978-0-521-84210-5
MIMS, Cedric A. (ed.) Medical Microbiology. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Elsevier, 2004. ix, 660 s. ISBN 0-323-03575-2
MOAT, Albert G., John W. FOSTER a Michael P. SPECTOR. Microbial Physiology. New York: Wiley-Liss, 2002. 714 s. ISBN 978-0-471-39483-9
SLÁDEČEK, V. a A. SLÁDEČKOVÁ. Atlas vodních organismů se zřetelem na vodárenství, povrchové vody a čistírny odpadních vod. Destruenti a producenti, 1. díl. Praha: Česká vědeckotechnická vodohospodářská společnost, 1996. 350 s. ISBN 80-02-01080-9 (sv. 1), ISBN 80-02-01081-7 (soubor)
SLÁDEČEK, V. a A. SLÁDEČKOVÁ. Atlas vodních organismů se zřetelem na vodárenství, povrchové vody a čistírny odpadních vod. Konzumenti, 2. díl. Praha: Česká vědeckotechnická vodohospodářská společnost, 1997. 358 s. ISBN 80-02-01101-5 (sv. 2), ISBN 80-02-01081-7 (soubor)
ŠIMONOVIČOVÁ, A., P. FERIANC, E. FRANKOVÁ, K. PAVLIČKOVÁ a E. PIECKOVÁ. Mikrobiológia pre environmentalistov. Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Univerzity Komenského, 2008. 156 s. ISBN 978-80-223-2314-7
VOJTKOVÁ, H. Pseudomonas: New Isolates of Metal Resistant Bacteria from the Anthropogenic Sediment of Settling Basins. Košice: TU Košice – Fakulta BERG, 2014. 109 s. ISBN 978-80-553-1839-4
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Lectures, Individual consultations, Experimental work in labs, Other activities
Assesment methods and criteria
Task TitleTask TypeMaximum Number of Points
(Act. for Subtasks)
Minimum Number of Points for Task Passing
Credit and ExaminationCredit and Examination100 (100)51
        CreditCredit33 33
        ExaminationExamination67 (67)18
                Písemný testWritten examination37 0
                Ústní zkouškaOral examination30 0