MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2019/2020
- Teacher
- MONICA BORGATTI
- Credits
- 9
- 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. In this way, 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 74 hours of teaching divided in frontal lectures (64 hours) and guided tutorial in the classroom and lab (10 hours).
FIRST PART: STRUCTURE OF NUCLEIC ACIDS
Chemical structure of nucleic acids
Physical structure of DNA
DNA topology and DNA topoisomerase
Structure of RNA
SECOND PART: MAINTENANCE OF GENOME
The genome structure, chromatin, and nucleosomes
DNA replication
DNA mutation and repair
Homologous recombination
Site-specific recombination and transposons
THIRD PART: GENOME EXPRESSION
RNA transcription
RNA processing
Translation
FOURTH PART: REGULATION OF GENETIC INFORMATION
Transcription regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
Translation regulation
Regulatory small RNAs
FIFTH PART: INTRODUCTION TO MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES
DNA extraction
Gel electrophoresis to separate nucleic acids
Recombinant DNA: restriction endonuclease, plasmid vector DNA cloning
The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
PRACTICAL WORKS: Exercises in the classroom and laboratory are based on molecular biology techniques for the analysis of bacterial DNA with a restriction enzyme. In particular after DNA extraction from bacteria, the DNA is quantified using the spectrophotometer, cut with a restriction enzyme and analyzed on agarose gel. Both in the classroom and in the laboratory, laboratory protocols and calculations are explained and discussed to carry out the various analyzes. Didactic methods
- The course is structured in frontal lectures and practical works. In particular, the course consists of 74 hours (9 CFU) of which 64 hours of lessons (8 CFU) and 10 hours (1 CFU) of guided teaching exercises in the classroom and in the laboratory.
Classes are held weekly in the classroom with the use of slides on power-point, video, animation, documents, scientific work in pdf and, for a better understanding of the concepts, also the blackboard supplied in the classrooms.
The exercises in the classroom and laboratory provide for the use of molecular biology techniques for the analysis of bacterial DNA cut with a restriction enzyme. Both in the classroom and in the laboratory, laboratory protocols and calculations are explained and discussed to carry out the various analyzes. Learning assessment procedures
- The exam includes 31 questions (with 5 answers only one of which is correct) and will be carried out using multiple choice tests on the IT platform or OCR modules or in paper form based on availability. The exam will last up to 45 minutes.
For DSA students, the test procedure will be evaluated individually.
To pass the exam (vote 18/30) it will be necessary to correctly answer at least 18 questions. The vote of 30/30 and honors will be achieved by answering correctly to 31 questions. Reference texts
- Recommended book for the study and exam preparation:
-Biologia Molecolare del gene, Watson JD et al., Zanichelli Editore (2015)
Other books for the course preparation and study:
-Biologia Molecolare, Amaldi F et al., Casa Editrice Ambrosiana (2018)
-Biologia Molecolare, Zlatanova J et al., Zanichelli Editore (2018)
-Biologia Molecolare, Cox MM et al., Zanichelli Editore (2013)
-Biologia Molecolare, Capranico G et al. Edises (2016)
-I principi di biochimica di Lehninger, Nelson DL et al., Zanichelli Editore (2015)
-Introduzione alla biochimica di Lehninger, Nelson DL et al., Zanichelli Editore (2015)
-Biologia Molecolare della cellula, Alberts B et al., Zanichelli Editore (2016)
-Metodologie Biochimiche, Bonaccorsi di Patti MC et al., Casa Editrice Ambrosiana (2012)
-Brown TA, Biotecnologie Molecolari, Zanichelli Editore (2017)
