The traditional lecture section (001) meet Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11:20AM to 12:10PM in Cox 214.

The DE section (601) is online at: http://www.mbio.ncsu.edu/MB451/

Molecular, biochemical and evolutionary diversity of the microbial world, including Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukaryotes. Evolutionary perspective on microbial relationships, molecular methods of study and classical and modern biotechnological methods utilizing this genetic diversity to explore the microbial world and use the resulting insight to meet the needs of our own species.
The course is required for Microbiology majors, and is taught every spring semester.

After taking this course, students should be able to ...

1. demonstrate an in-depth familiarization with the evolutionary perspective on microbial relationships, and how these relationships are determined,
2. generate a phylogenetic tree from sequence data
3. describe a wide range of microbial groups in terms of their morphology, ecology, metabolism, and evolutionary diversity,
4. read, interpret, and summarize scientific articles in microbiology and related fields, and
5. apply this knowledge and perspective to microbiological problems in the form of experimental design.

Lecture Sessions

The format of the Monday and Wednesday lecture is traditional. The lecture series can be divided into three very different sections:

Part 1 - Molecular Phylogenetics
The first section begins with some preliminaries; defining the scope of the course, defining the perspective, providing a historical context, &c. The main part of this section is a practical guide to molecular phylogenetic analysis, focusing on how to create and interpret phylogenetic trees, and a overview of “the Tree of Life”.

Part 2 - Microbial Survey
The second section is a tour through each of the major phylogenetic groups of Bacteria and Archaea (microbial eukaryotes and viruses are also covered briefly), discussing the general properties of the organisms in each group, and describing in more detail some specific representatives. One or two general topics raised by these organisms will be discussed in each lecture.

Part 3 - Microbial Ecology & Complexity
The third section is more conceptual and experimentally defined, making heavy use of the primary research literature. This section discusses how molecular phylogenetic analysis is used by microbiologists, from identification of unknown and potentially uncultivable organisms, to molecular surveys of populations, and linking processes with specific organisms. This leads to a discussion of various conceptual aspects of microbial complexity, from genomics and cell biology.

Students present in class will be presented with these lectures in the traditional fashion. DE students or students absent from the lecture will work from the on-line course material. Both resources are available to all students: any enrolled student has the on-line material available to them, and any enrolled student free to participate in the lectures on days they can do so.

Discussion Sessions

The discussion sessions will be group work on "Questions for thought" from the material in the lecture modules.

Students present in class for the Discussion sessions will work in groups on the Discussion assignment. They will work together to hash out a response to the question, which they will turn in with all of their names attached. All students in the group will get the same score.

DE students or students absent from class on Discussion day can work in groups or individually on the Discussion assignment. The assignments for each week, details, and due dates/times are listed on the Discussion wiki page.

MB 411 (Medical Microbiology) and either GN 311 (General Genetics) or BCH 351/451 (General Biochemistry)

I will generally also allow students with any advanced Microbiology class and molecular biology background of some kind to enroll.

The course web site is located at http://www.mbio.ncsu.edu/MB451/

This web site contains a wide variety of information that will be critical for all students throughout the semester.

The course web site contains student exam grades posted by self-assigned PIN.

This course may involve electronic sharing or posting of personally identifiable student work or other information with persons not taking or administering the course. Students will be asked to sign a consent allowing disclosure of their personally identifiable work. No student is required to sign the consent as a condition of taking the course. If a student does not want to sign the consent, he or she has the right to ask the instructor for an alternative, private means of completing the coursework.

Traditional students (section 001)

Attendance in lectures is strongly encouraged, but attendance will not be recorded or used in determining grades.

Students who are absent without a formal excuse are still subject to the exam schedule. Students who are absent with a formal excuse will be given one extra week to take exams, or as negotiated with the instructor.

Students who are absent without a formal excuse are also subject to the Discussion session schedule. If you are absent on days with Discussion sessions, you are expected to participate in the Discussion Session Wiki. Students absent with an unanticipatable formal excuse will need to negotiate a reasonable solution with the instructor.

DE students (section 601)

Physical attendance is obviously not expected of DE students, but it is critical that thse students work consistently on the course material if they are to succeed. Thoese DE students that can are welcome to participate in the traditional lecture whenever they can and wish to do so.

Schedule: Online class evaluations will be available for students to complete during the last 2 weeks of spring term.

Students will receive an email message directing them to a website where they can login using their Unity ID and complete evaluations. All evaluations are confidential; instructors will never know how any one student responded to any question, and students will never know the ratings for any particular instructors.

Evaluation website: https://classeval.ncsu.edu/
Student help desk: classeval@ncsu.edu
More information about ClassEval: http://www.ncsu.edu/UPA/classeval/

There is no textbook for this course; no good text exists! Whatever book you used in MB 351, or any other recent, good general microbiology textbook, can serve in this course for background information. The best of these is Brock Biology of Microorganisms.

This courses requires only the usual materials for taking notes in class. Routine access to a computer with a modern web browser, word processor, email, and printer is required.

There are no extra fees or expenses for this course.

This course will not require students to provide their own transportation. Non-scheduled class time for field trips or out-of- class activities is NOT required for this class.

This course does not fulfill a General Education Program category or co-requisite.

None

Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, student must register with the Disability Services Office (http://www.ncsu.edu/dso) located at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653. For more information on NC State's policy on working with students with disabilities, please see the Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation at http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.1.php.

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