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Kies de Nederlandse taal
Course module: UCSCIBIOL3
UCSCIBIOL3
Microbiology Lab: spread of antibiotical drug resistance
Course info
Course codeUCSCIBIOL3
EC2.5
Course goals
 
Content
Antibiotics are chemical substances produced by microorganisms that kill or inhibit the growth of other microorganisms. The development of antibiotics for the treatment of infectious disease had an enormous impact on medicine. However, extensive use of antibiotics caused the development of pathogenic bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. Resistance can be caused by a chromosomal mutation or by the presence of resistance genes located on plasmids. A process called conjugation can transfer these plasmids from one organism to another. Recently, bacteria are found that are resistant to all known antimicrobial drugs, prompting fears of a return to the preantibiotic era when many infectious diseases were untreatable. The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen that causes a large variety of infections, including chronic lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis. This bacterium has a high intrinsic resistance to antibiotic, making it difficult to eradicate this bacterium using standard antibiotic treatment.
The aim of this project is to study the occurrence and the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in bacteria In addition, the possibility of using alternative therapies to prevent growth of bacteria, such as phage therapy, will be explored using P. aeruginosa as a model system.
During the course the students are introduced to the following techniques:
  • Isolation and culturing of bacteria
  • Antibiotic resistance assays
  • Conjugation and transduction
  • Plasmid DNA isolation and analysis T
  • Biofilm formation and microscopy.
Attendance
Due to the short duration and intensive nature of the lab course, 100% attendance is required.
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Kies de Nederlandse taal