University of Lucknow Courses

M.Sc. (Microbiology)

---

Duration: 2 Years

Eligibility: Graduation

Course Structure

Semester – I

• Paper I:  Techniques and Tools in Microbiology
• Paper II:  Microbial Diversity
• Paper III:  Cell Structure
• Paper IV:  Microbial Genetics
• Practical:  Practical based on Papers I-IV

Semester – II

• Paper V:  Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry
• Paper VI:  Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering
• Paper VII:  Plant Virology
• Paper VIII:  Medical Microbiology and Immunology
• Practical:  Practical based on Papers I-IV

Semester – III

• Paper IX:  Environmental Microbiology
• Paper X:  Industrial and Food Microbiology
• Paper XI:  Biostatistics and Computer Applications
• Paper XII:  Microbial Biotechnology
• Practical:  Practical based on Papers IX-XII

Semester – IV

• Project Dissertation*:
• Project Presentation:
• Project Viva-Voce

Note : *Project  work  (semester  IV) will be carried  out by the students  in various recognized/established  labs of Other Universities,  of Institutes under CSIR, ICMR, IIT, ICAR, DST, DBT, and of Industry etc., and would be arranged by the students  themselves  (including  whatever expenses  become due in this regard).

Course Detail

Semester - I

Paper I: Techniques and Tools in Microbiology

Unit I: Culture and visualization of microbes, pure cultures, culture media, aseptic conditions, sterilization techniques, inoculation methods, culture characteristics, culturing for specific requirements e.g. antibiotic sensitivity, principles of staining, Gram stain, staining for endospore, capsule, flagella, principles of microscopy, compound microscope, phase contrast microscope, fluorescence microscope, electron microscope, SEM, TEM, stains in electron microscopy.

Unit II: Spectrophotometry and spectroscopy, principles, colorimetry, spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry, atomic absorption spectroscopy, electron spin resonance spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, tracer techniques.

Unit III: Centrifugation and separation techniques, ultracentrifugation, density gradient centrifugation, paper and thin layer chromatography, column chromatography – ion-exchange, adsorption, affinity, hydrophobic interaction, size-exclusion, gas chromatography, HPLC, SDS-PAGE, isoelectric focusing.

Unit IV: Techniques in virology, bioassay, purification, test for viral purity, quantification, serology, ELISA, serologically specific electron microscopy, RIA, molecular methods of virus identification.

 

Paper II: Microbial Diversity

Classification, comparative structure/function and plant pathogenic (including control) aspects of:

Unit I: Bacteria, Archaea, Mycoplasma, Phytoplasma, (Xanthomonas oryzae, Pseudomonas solanacearum, Erwinia cartovora, Streptomyces, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Mycoplasma sp, Phytoplasma sp).

Unit II: Viruses (Cucumber mosaic virus, tobacco mosaic virus, sunnhemp rosette virus, papaya ring spot virus, yellow vein mosaic virus)

Unit III: Algae (Anabaena, Gloeotrichia, Cosmarium, Prochloron, Trentipohlia, Padina), Fungi (Yeasts, Alternaria, Penicillium, Uromyces, Peronospora), parasexuality in fungi

Unit IV: Protozoa (Entamoeba, Paramecium, Giardia), Nematodes (Meloidogyne, Ascaris)

 

Paper III: Cell Structure

Unit I: Cell structure and organization in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, general structure of bacteria, mycoplasma, viruses, algae, fungi, protozoa, cell cycle and cell synchrony.

Unit II: Cell organelles, cell wall, plasma membrane, lysosomes, golgi bodies, microtubules, microfilaments, taxic movements.

Unit III: Cell organelles, nucleus, arrangement of DNA in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, mitochondria, chloroplast, ribosomes.

Unit IV: Bacterial growth, principles, growth cycle measurement, continuous and synchronous cultures, factors affecting bacterial growth.

 

Paper IV: Microbial Genetics

Unit I: Basic genetics, Mendelian principles, Neurospora genetics, cell division, linkage and crossing over.

Unit II: Genome organization in bacteria, viruses and eukaryotic micro organisms, DNA replication, extrachromosomal elements, genetic recombination in bacteria, transformation, transduction, conjugation.

Unit III: Genetic code, mutations, types, molecular mechanisms of mutations, mutagens, DNA repair mechanisms.

Unit IV: Bacteriophage genetics, diversity of phage genomes, life cycle of phage lambda, genetic switch.

Practical: Based on Papers I-IV

 

Semester - II

Paper V: Microbial Physiology and Biochemistry

Unit I: General description of metabolites, carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and proteins, nucleic acids.

Unit II: Bacterial respiration, energy production in cell, chemolithotrophy, oxidation-reduction reactions, ATP generation, phosphorylation, oxidative photophosphorylation, electron transport, glycolysis, fermentative diversity, TCA cycle, pentose phosphate shunt.

Unit III: Bacterial photosynthesis, types of bacterial photosynthetic pigments, photochemical reactions, pathways for CO2 fixation, light and dark reactions, asymbiotic and symbiotic nitrogen fixation, nitrogenase complex.

Unit IV: Enzymes, nomenclature and classification, nature, specificity, kinetics, regulation, modes of action, enzyme inhibition, allosteric control.

 

Paper VI: Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering

Unit I: Transcription and translation mechanisms, post-transcriptional processing of mRNA, post-translational processing of proteins, regulation of gene expression – structure of gene, Operon model, lac Operon, trp Operon.

Unit II: Introduction to recDNA technology, enzymes used, vectors – plasmids, cosmids, phage lambda, expression vectors, cloning strategies.

Unit III: CDNA and genomic library, screening methods, characterization of cloned inserts, DNA sequencing, Transformation methods – direct and Agrobacterium-mediated.

Unit IV: Special techniques – PCR, site-directed mutagenesis, RFLP, AFLP, VNTRs, DNA microarray, E coli genome.

 

Paper VII: Plant Virology

Unit I: Development of science of virology, nomenclature and classification, structural components and particle morphology.

Unit II: Genome diversity, genome expression strategies, replication of RNA and DNA plant viruses.

Unit III: Epidemiology of virus infection, symptoms of virus-infected plants, modes of transmission, molecular mechanisms of vector transmission.

Unit IV: Conventional and modern methods of plant virus control, subviral pathogens – viroids, prions, satellite RNA, hepatitis delta virus.

 

Paper VIII: Medical Microbiology and Immunology

Unit I: General principles, host-microbe relationship, Koch’s postulates, kinds of disease, disease syndrome, transmission of disease, infection process, nature of virulence, toxins (cholera, diphtheria, clostridium, tetanus), antiphagocytic factors, extracellular enzymes.

Unit II: Diseases caused by bacteria (Staphylococcus, Mycobacterium, Salmonella, Shigella), virus (influenza virus, HIV), oncogenic viruses, fungi (Candida albicans, Trichophyton, Aspergillus), protozoa (Amoeba, Plasmodium, Trypanosoma, Balantidium)

Unit III: Types of immunity, immune system and responses, humoral immunity, polyclonal antibodies, antibody-antigen reactions, monoclonal antibodies, cell-mediated immunity, macrophages.

Unit IV: Hypersensitivity, allergy and allergens, autoimmune disorders, artificial immunity to infectious diseases, antibiotics and their mode of action.

Practical: Based on Papers V-VIII

 

Semester – III

Paper IX: Environmental Microbiology

Unit I: Biosphere, ecosystem, energy transfer, food chain, microbes in extreme environments.

Unit II: Microbiology of water, microbial population in natural waters and factors affecting growth, purification of drinking water, water borne diseases, algal blooms, biofilms.

Unit III: Water pollution, sources of water pollution, indicator microorganisms, waste water, solid waste treatment, liquid waste treatment, biological waste water management, BOD, COD.

Unit IV: Microbiology of soil and air, soil microbes, rhizosphere, microbial interactions in soil, mycorrhizae, nitrogen, carbon and sulphur cycles, sampling of microbes in air.

 

Paper X: Industrial and Food Microbiology

Unit I: Introduction to industrial microbiology, suitability of microbes in industrial processes and their source, fermentation, recovery and purification of fermentation products, strain improvement, product optimization.

Unit II: Industrial alcohol and alcoholic beverages, organic acids (citric, lactic, acetic), amino acids (glutamine, lysine, tryptophan), enzymes (amylase, protease, pectinase), immobilized enzyme technology, vitamins (B12, riboflavin).

Unit III: Diversity of microbes in food, factors affecting growth in food, spoilage of food products, food borne diseases.

Unit IV: Principles of food preservation, asepsis, preservation by radiation and chemical additives, canning, lab testing procedures.

 

Paper XI: Biostatistics and Computer Applications

Unit I: Statistical concepts, population and sample designs, sampling methods, frequency distribution, tests of significance, chi-square test, student’s t-test, F-test.

Unit II: Distribution patterns, relationship between curve area and standard deviation, departure from normality, binomial and poisson distributions, applications, positive and negative correlations, regression, prediction of unknown variables.

Unit III: Introduction to computers, components and function, concept of data/information, representation in binary, bits, bytes, introduction to programming language C++.

Unit IV: Internet, biological databases, sequence alignment and database searching, evolutionary concepts based on sequences, BLAST, FASTA, EMBOSS, multiple sequence alignment CLUSTAL W.

 

Paper XII: Microbial Biotechnology

Unit I: Pharmaceutical biotechnology, production of vaccines, insulin, antibiotics, interferon.

Unit II: Food and agricultural biotechnology, SCP, beverages (tea, coffee, beer, wine), concerns about use of GM food and GM technology, biofertilizer, biopesticides, bioremediation

Unit III: Biodegradation of xenobiotics and toxic waste, bioaccumulation and metal scavenging by microbes, biofuels, biosensors, biopolymers

Unit IV: Products of recDNA technology, BT cotton, genetically modified microbes for environmental cleanup, petrol, diesel and by-products, microbial utilization in mining and textile.

Practical: Based on Papers IX-XII

 

Semester - IV

External Project