Teacher: Serena Ammendola
Aims:
Students will learn about microorganisms’ main uses in all the fields of Biotechnology and the theoretical basis of bacterial genome modification techniques, with particular reference to those based on homologous recombination.
Program:
Part I. Microbial technology in history. Searching for useful microbes: bioprospecting and in silico genome prospecting. Which microbes for biotechnology: a taxonomic overview of the main microbes used in biotech applications. Main features of plasmids used in biotechnology; strains improvement through classical mutagenesis, site-directed mutagenesis, and directed evolution. Genome editing of bacteria: the lambda-red system and plasmid–based gene knockout methods. Mobile Group II introns as gene editing tools. The CRISPR-Cas toolkit for KO mutants and for gene expression modulation; systems metabolic engineering in E. coli.
Part II. Microbes in Biotechnology: Industrial Biotechnology (Production of Amino acids, Organic acids, Bioplastics, and Vitamins); Medical Biotechnology (Secondary metabolites production; Antibiotics; Antitumor); Food Biotechnology (Production of fermented foods; Starter cultures; Probiotics; Bacteriocins; Elimination of allergens); Agricultural Biotechnology (A. tumefaciens, Biofertilizers, and Biopesticides); Environmental Biotechnology (Bioremediation, Biorestoration of cultural heritage; Biomineralization); Marine Biotechnology (Secondary metabolites from sea microorganisms)