Course title
環境分子生物学   [Environmental Molecular Biology]
Course category   Requirement   Credit 2 
Department   Year 3  Semester 4th 
Course type 4th  Course code 01en3054
Instructor(s)
髙見 英人, 佐々 英徳, 多羅尾 光徳   [SASSA Hidenori, TARAO Mitsunori]
Facility affiliation Faculty of Agriculture Office   Email address

Course description
[Dr. Takami]
Microorganisms inhabiting various environments on the earth are engaged in various life activities and are not only important players of material circulation in soil and ocean, but in recent research, it has been pointed out that microorganisms in bioaerosol also affects formation of cloud droplet. Isolation and culture are one of the most effective means for understanding the actual condition of environmental microorganisms, but it is difficult to cultivate them. Actually, the microorganisms that have been isolated and cultivated so far are 1 to 10% of the microorganisms living in the environment or less. On the other hand, recent remarkable progress of molecular biology and genome science led to culture-independent metagenome analysis that examines the entire genome of environmental microorganisms. This approach has enabled us to predict not only on the type and distribution of microorganisms but also on the functional role of microorganisms in the actual environments. In this lecture, we will discuss what and how much environmental microbes can be understood by molecular biology and genomics methods, and what their limits are. The purpose of this lecture is to acquire the basic knowledge of microbiology, molecular biology, genomic science, and bioinformatics necessary for evaluation of environmental impacts using microbes as indicators, bioremediation, etc.

[Dr. Sassa]
Plants which are not able to move to favourable environment survive by sensing the changing environment and responding to it. Changes of gene expression, the background of the response, will be introduced by showing various cases.
Expected Learning
[Dr. Takami]
Students are expected to,
1. To be able to deepen understanding of microorganisms from a broad perspective.
2. Understand the basics of genome analysis.
3. Understand the basics of omics analysis such as genome, transcriptome, proteome and metabolome.
4. Understand the basics of bioinformatics.
5. You can acquire complicated thinking methods rather than simple thinking.

[Dr. Sassa]
Students should understand the mechanisms that plants response to environment by changing their gene expression.

Corresponding criteria in the Diploma Policy:
See the Curriculum maps.
URL: https://www.tuat.ac.jp/campuslife_career/campuslife/policy/
Course schedule
[Dr. Takami]
Classes with the following contents will be divided into 3 days for intensive lectures. The order of items does not necessarily match the order of the number of lectures, and lectures will be interwoven with actual examples as necessary.

1. Why environmental molecular biology?
2. Environment where microorganisms live: From moderate environment to extreme environment.
3. Molecular phylogeny of microorganisms: Types and diversity of microorganisms examined by gene sequences.
4. Microbial genome sequencing and comparative genomic analysis
5. What is the field of bioinformatics?
6. Guess the way of life of microorganisms from omix information
7. Genome analysis of unculturable microorganisms
8. Concept and practice of metagenomic analysis

If the number of participants in this lecture is about 10 or less, it will be held by face-to-face. If there are students who take classes from home etc. due to circumstances, use together with online.

[Dr. Sassa]
The first half: Molecular mechanisms of plants response to abiotic environment
The second half: Molecular mechanisms of plants response to biotic environment
Prerequisites
Before attending this lecture, please summarize your thoughts so that you can talk about the microorganisms you are interested in, their reasons, expectations for genomic science, and worries in the first class. The lessons proceed while answering as much as possible to the participants' concerns, questions, and worries.
・It is desirable to have already taken the basic specialized liberal arts microbiology.
・Watch the science channel "Bacteria: The Mysterious World".
(https://sciencechannel.jst.go.jp/A070621/)
Required Text(s) and Materials
[Dr. Takami]
Handouts and summaries are downloadable from the online site.

[Dr. Sassa]
Handouts will be given.
References
[Dr. Takami]
Microbial Diversity in the Genomic Era, Academic Press, S. Das, H.R. Dash eds. (2019)

[Dr. Sassa]
Nogaku-Nyumon (Yokendo) [in Japanese]
Syokubutsu-no-Seicho (Shokabo) [in Japanese]
Daigaku-Seibutsugaku-no-Kyokasyo (Kodansha Blue Backs) [in Japanese]
Assessment/Grading
[Dr. Takami]
Report on assignments given through this lecture

[Dr. Sassa]
Report, 50%; attendance, 50%
Message from instructor(s)
[Dr. Takami]
From the perspectives of molecular biology and genomics, which have made remarkable progress, I hope that you develop the thinking ability to confront various environmental problems. Don't hesitate to ask me what you think and doubt yourself, without being bound by preconceived ideas.
Course keywords
Molecular biology, Molecular evolution, Genome/metagenomics, Omics analysis, Bioinformatics, Environmental impact assessment
Office hours
Make an appointment before or after each lecture.
Remarks 1
Remarks 2
Related URL
http://www.ige.tohoku.ac.jp/joho/index.html
Lecture Language
Japanese
Language Subject
Last update
1/6/2022 3:32:55 PM