Environmental Microbiology

Code:

AMB231

Acronym:

AMB231

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Environment

Instance: 2010/2011 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Biology
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Environmental Sciences and Technology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
L:B	41	Plano de estudos a partir de 2008	3	-	5	56	135
L:CTA	72	Plano de estudos de 2008 até 2015/16	2	-	5	56	135

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Aims:
The students are expected to acquire basic knowledge on selected topics on environmental microbiology.
Practical classes are aimed to carry out selected experiments on basic environmental microbiology.

Program

Lectures.
General microbiology. What are bacteria? What are fungi? Main characteristics and groups.
Soil microbiology. The carbon and nitrogen cycles in the soil. The microbial degradation of cellulose and lignin. Mycorrhizae.
Water microbiology. Bacterial diseases carried out by the water. The cholera, salmonelosis and bacilar desentery. Indicators of faecal pollution. The Portuguese legislation about the microbiological quality of water in Portugal. The microbiological quality of water for human consumption in Portugal. The microbiological quality of water for swimming pools.
Microbiology of the atmospheres. Bacterial diseases carried out by the atmosphere. The plague, anthrax, legionelosis, Lyme disease and aspergilosis. Methods for analyzing the fungi of the atmospheres. The fungi of the atmospheres. Fungal indicators of indoor air quality. Production of mycotoxins, organic volatile compounds and fragments. The sick building syndrome. Methods for indoor air microbiological analysis.
Microbiology of extreme environments. Halophilic, xerophilic, psicrophilic and thermophilic microorganisms and the mechanisms of their adaptation.
Microbiology of polluted environments. Microbiology of the petroleum compounds. Microbiology of rubber. Microbiology of organochloride compounds. The DDT. Microbiology of plastic compounds.
Microbiology of the metals. The toxicity and indispensability of the metal cations. Microbiology of the arsenic, mercury and copper.
Space microbiology. The Apollo program. Microbial analysis of lunar samples. The Viking project. The experiments carried out in situ with Martian soils. The biological and abiotic intepretations. The Martian meteorites. Are there fossil bacteria? Are there magnetotatic bacteria?
Microbiological war. Microbiological weapons. History.

Practical classes.
Fungal diversity in the environment. Observation of zygomycetes, deuteromycetes, ascomycetes and basidiomycetes common in the environment.
Water microbiology. Determination of faecal coliforms, faecal estreptococci and enterococci in Douro estuary.
Microbiology of bottled mineral waters. Quantification of total heterotrophic bacteria. Checking the absence of coliforms.
Air microbiology. Quantification of fungal cells in indoor air. Identification of fungal species by microscopy. The Portuguese legislation on indoor air quality.

Short bibliography:
ATLAS, R. M. 1997. PRINCIPLES OF MICROBIOLOGY. Wm. C. Brown Publishers; 2.ª edição; Dubuque.
BROCK, T. D. & MADIGAN, M. T. 1988. BIOLOGY OF MICROORGANISMS. Prentice-Hall; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; 834 pg.
GREENBERG, A. E., CLESCERI, L. S., EATON, A. D. & FRANSON, M. A. H. editores 1992. STANDARD METHODS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF WATER AND WASTEWATER. American Public Health Association; Washington.
HURST, C. J., KNUDSEN, G. R., McINERNEY, M. J., STETZENBACH, L. D. & WALTER, M. V. editores 1997. MANUAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY. American Society of Microbiology Press; Washington; 894 pg.

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	56,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Eligibility for exams

Attendance of at least 3 / 4 of the practical classes.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final exam with questions about the lectures and the practical classes.

Classification improvement

According to the rules of the university.