Medical Bacteriology & Mycology (Micb 412)
Spring Semester, 2009
Instructor: Dr. Mike Minnick
Meeting: MWF 9:10 - 10:00 AM in HS 207
Office hours: Open-door policy- drop in whenever you like
Office location: HS 509
Phone: 243-5972
E-mail: mike.minnick@mso.umt.edu
Text: Medical Microbiology (Murray et al., 5th edition) 2005.
Performance- There will be three, 100-point exams during the semester plus a 150-point
final (100 points comprehensive and 50 points from the last 5 lectures). Make-up exams
are available only for excused and documented absences. Performance will be evaluated
by a classical grading system of: A (90-100%); B (80-89%); C (70-79%); D (60-69%); F
(<60%)
Preparation- Reading assigned materials in advance and attending class are highly
recommended, since lecture notes are the only source of test questions.
MICB 300 is a prerequisite for this course. If you have not taken general microbiology or
an equivalent course, please see me before proceeding further. Immunology is also
recommended.
Accommodations for students with disabilities are gladly made, but to qualify you must be
registered with Disability Services for Students (DSS). Arrangements for accommodations
on exams must be through DSS.
Academic misconduct will be reported and handled as described in The University of
Montana Student Conduct Code. All students must practice academic honesty. Academic
misconduct is subject to an academic penalty by the course instructor and/or a disciplinary
sanction by the University. All students need to be familiar with the Student Conduct Code.
The Code is available for review online at: http://www.umt.edu/SA/VPSA/index.cfm/name/
StudentConductCode. Cheating on exams will also result in an automatic “F” for that
examination without exception. A second episode of cheating will result in an F for the
course, without exception.
Dropping course or changing grading status will strictly follow University policies and
procedures, which are described in the catalog. Students should note that they cannot
change to an audit after the 15th day of instruction. In addition, dropping the course or
changing the grading status (to CR/NCR) are not automatically approved after the 30th day
of the semester; these may be requested by petition, but the petition must be accompanied
by documentation of extenuating circumstances. Requests to drop the course or change
the grading status to benefit a student's grade point average will not be approved.
Cell phones must be turned off during class. Disruption of class by a ringing cell phone
could result in the loss of points.
Date
Topic
Chapter(s)
January
26, 28
30
Introduction, virulence and pathogenesis
Immune response to pathogens
1, 7, 18
9-12
February
2, 4, 6
9, 11
13
16
18, 20
23
25, 27
Antimicrobials and resistance
Staphylococcus
Streptococcus, Enterococcus
Holiday- President’s Day ☺
G+ sporeformers- Clostridium, Bacillus
EXAM 1 (100 points)
G+ sporeformers- Clostridium, Bacillus
20, 70
21
22, 23
G+ non-sporeformers- Listeria, Corynebacterium
Enterics
Yersinia
25, 26
30
30
EXAM 2 (100 points)
Pseudomonads
Vibrio
Holiday- Spring Break ☺
33
31
1, 3
6
8
10
13
15
17
20
22
24
27
29
Holidays- Spring Break ☺
Helicobacter, Campylobacter
Haemophilus , Pasteurella
Mycobacterium
Bordetella, Francisella
Brucella
Spirochetes (COLLOQUY #1 due by 5 pm)
Neisseria
Chlamydia
Mycoplasma
EXAM 3 (100 pts)
Rickettsiae
32
34
28
35, 36
36
42
29
46
43
May
1
4, 6
8
Legionella
Pathogenic fungi
Pathogenic fungi (COLLOQUY #1 due by 5 pm)
37
68, 71-77
68, 71-77
12
FINAL (150 pts) (10:10 AM to 12:10 PM)
24, 39
24, 39
March
2, 4, 6
9, 11, 13
16, 18
20
23
25
27
30
April
44-45
COLLOQUY
Due dates- Colloquy #1- April 17- 5:00 pm (all students)
Colloquy #2- May 8- 5:00 pm (Grads and undergrad re-writes)
Directions- Choose a 2008-2009 research article in medical bacteriology or mycology that
interests you, read it in depth and write a synopsis. The synopsis is a condensed summary
of the article using your own words. Do not use a review article or a general topic of
interest.
Articles- Research articles are found in a variety of journals including Molecular
Microbiology, Journal of Bacteriology, Infection and Immunity, etc. You may scan for
articles in the journals or search the PubMed database for particular key words or subjects
that interest you (e.g., tuberculosis, antibiotic resistance, candidiasis, virulence plasmid,
etc.). ASM journal articles can be downloaded and print for free after 6 months of
publication. Alternatively, your instructor can download newer articles.
Format-4 full pages, double-spaced and typed.
-Begin with a brief introduction of the topic and goals of the research, etc.
-Follow this section with a discussion of the experimental approach, and justification, but
don’t go into lengthy detail on protocols. Why the authors did experiment “x” to study
virulence is more important than how the experiment is done.
-Do the results support the author(s)’ conclusions? If you do not agree with the authors,
please explain. How might the paper be improved?
-Discuss the significance of the paper to medical bacteriology / mycology
-Attach a copy of the research article to you paper
Grading- 100 pts are possible, based upon writing clarity, grammar, conforming to format,
overall flow of logic and how well the article is summarized. A 10% reduction in points per
day will be penalized for tardy colloquies. Plagiarism will result in an automatic F for the
assignment. Don’t steal the authors’ writing.
Purpose- To introduce junior scientists to literature-searching and contemporary research
in medical bacteriology and mycology.
Assignments- ALL students must complete Colloquy #1. The assignment will be
corrected and returned. If you are satisfied with the grade you can ignore the second
colloquy. However, if you are not happy with the colloquy #1 grade, you may do a second
colloquy on another article and turn it in by the Colloquy #2 due date. NOTE: Colloquy #1
must be done to be eligible for the colloquy #2 re-write. The better grade of the two
assignments will be used to calculate your final grade. Graduate students will prepare
both colloquies on two separate articles and each graduate colloquy is worth 50 points.