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BL5200 - MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY
Fall, 2000

Instructor: Susan T. Bagley, Associate Professor

Office/Telephone/E-Mail: Dow ESE 531; 487-2385; stbagley@mtu.edu

Office Hours: T - 9:30 to 10:30 AM; W - 11 AM to Noon, F - 1:00 to 2:00 PM or by Arrangement

Course Objectives:

To discuss various aspects of the function of procaryotic and eucaryotic microorganisms, particulary relating to responses to nutritional and environmental stimuli, via review of current literature, lectures, discussions, and student presentations and papers.

Reading Assignments:

No required text. General microbiology and biochemistry texts will provide useful background material.

Course information will be derived from the current literature ( review and technical articles).  In most cases, these articles are available on-line; PDF files are also available for many of the articles.  Specific references will be posted on through this web site and via the course e-mail list (bl5200-l@mtu.edu).  Articles can be located through the  JR Van Pelt Library's Indexes and Databases web site.

A list of on-line references is presented at the end of this page.

Course Requirements:

Two take-home essay exams on lecture material (50 points each).

Oral presentation covering current literature in an area of microbial physiology (20 points).

Written report on the above topic (30 points).

Note: Student subjects can be in any area related to microbial physiology that has not specifically been covered in class, subject to instructor approval. After approval topic selections will be posted to the BL5200 mailing list (bl5200-@mtu.edu) on a first posted-first served basis.

Participation in class discussions is also expected, including BL5200 mailing list contributions.  (A WebCT site, containing a chat room, is also under construction for this course.)

Topics to be Covered Include:

Two-Component Regulatory Systems                                                    Nitrogen and Phosporus Regulation of Growth

Sensors for Environmental and Nutritional Changes                                Responses to Environmental Stresses

Transport                                                                                              Motility and Taxis

References (on-line)

9/5/00    Koch, A. L. 1996. What size should a bacterium be?  A question of scale.  Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 50:317-348.