BIOLOGY OF MICROORGANISMS

Prerequisites & course information

Requisites: ( ZOOLOGY/BIOLOGY 101 , ZOOLOGY/BIOLOGY/BOTANY 151 , BIOCORE 383 , or BIOLOGY/BOTANY 130 ) and ( CHEM 104 or 109 ) or graduate/professional standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Natural Science & Wellness Breadth - Biological Science Level - Intermediate L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain the historical context of microbiology from a human and evolutionary perspective. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Compare different microbial cell structures and predict behaviors based upon those structures. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Explain how mutations occur in cells, the mechanisms organisms have to combat these changes, and how these changes relate to the evolution of species. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Predict the modes of growth of microbes based upon the enzymes they contain and the metabolic breakdown of substrates. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Describe the regulatory paradigms in microbes and predict the changes in behavior that occur when these pathways are disrupted. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Explain the symbiotic and dysbiotic state in a host-microbe interaction and list factors that can affect this relationship. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Compare common virulence factors and explain their effect on symbiotic relationships and how these virulence factors contribute to disease. Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain the historical context of microbiology from a human and evolutionary perspective. Audience: Undergraduate 2. Compare different microbial cell structures and predict behaviors based upon those structures. Audience: Undergraduate 3. Explain how mutations occur in cells, the mechanisms organisms have to combat these changes, and how these changes relate to the evolution of species. Audience: Undergraduate 4. Predict the modes of growth of microbes based upon the enzymes they contain and the metabolic breakdown of substrates. Audience: Undergraduate 5. Describe the regulatory paradigms in microbes and predict the changes in behavior that occur when these pathways are disrupted. Audience: Undergraduate 6. Explain the symbiotic and dysbiotic state in a host-microbe interaction and list factors that can affect this relationship. Audience: Undergraduate 7. Compare common virulence factors and explain their effect on symbiotic relationships and how these virulence factors contribute to disease. Audience: Undergraduate