MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- MONICA BORGATTI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/11
Training objectives
- The course is focused on the study of the structure, function, and regulation of essential cellular macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins including the relative biochemical pathways. Specifically, the course will address the replication, DNA repair, transcription, translation and the related cellular regulation mechanisms. At the end of the course, the student will be guided through the course to understand the structure, function, and activities of biological macromolecules and the specific regulation pathways.
Prerequisites
- Basic knowledge of biochemistry and cellular biology.
No prerequisites. Course programme
- The course consists of 48 hours of lectures divided into four parts:
FIRST PART: STRUCTURE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS (8 hours)
Chemical structure of nucleic acids
Physical structure of DNA
DNA topology and DNA topoisomerase
Structure of RNA
SECOND PART: MAINTENANCE OF GENOME (10 hours)
The genome structure, chromatin, and nucleosomes
DNA replication
DNA mutation and repair
Homologous recombination
Site-specific recombination and transposons
THIRD PART: GENOME EXPRESSION (20 hours)
RNA transcription
RNA processing
Translation
FOURTH PART: REGULATION OF GENETIC INFORMATION (10 hours)
Transcription regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
Translation regulation
The teaching hours are indicative. The order of the topics may vary according to didactic needs. Didactic methods
- The course consists of lectures (48 hours, 6 ECTS). The lectures are performed using slides in power point format and blackboard provided in the classrooms to explain better the topics.
Learning assessment procedures
- The exam is intended to evaluate the study of the matter and understanding of the described concepts during the course.
The exam includes a test (5 multiple choice questions with explanation of the specific answer with a maximum score of 6 points for each question expect to one question having 7 points; in details, 1 point for quiz and 2 or 4 (or 5) maximum points for explanation of the answer), based on all the topics covered in the course.
Wrong answer or no date 0 points. The final mark is the sum of the marks obtained from 5 questions, with the total score of 31 equal to the final vote of 30/30 cum laude. The exam lasts one hour.
If it will be not possible to carry out the exam in the presence due to Covid-19 emergency, it will be performed as online oral exam.
For DSA students the test procedure will be evaluated individually. Reference texts
- Recommended book for the study and exam preparation:
-Biologia Molecolare del gene, Watson JD et al., Zanichelli Editore (2015)
