MICROBIAL GENETICS AND GENOMICS • Discuss the benefits and trade-off of sexual vs asexual reproduction. • Explain what vertical transmission and horizontal (or lateral) transmissio... MICROBIAL GENETICS AND GENOMICS • Discuss the benefits and trade-off of sexual vs asexual reproduction. • Explain what vertical transmission and horizontal (or lateral) transmission of genetic material are. • Explain in detail each of these processes (mechanism): transformation, transduction, and conjugation. • Distinguish between generalized and specialized transduction. • Discuss the consequences for bacterial genetic diversity of each of these processes (mechanism): transformation, transduction, and conjugation. (clinical significance) • Describe the notions of pan genome and core genome. • Explain what chromosomal islands are and describe why we think they are of foreign origin. • Discuss how microorganisms have evolved such a huge diversity of organisms using the processes we have seen in class. MICROBIAL SYMBIOSIS WITH HUMANS • Discuss, in a general way, what we know of the diversity and dynamics of microbial populations in humans so far. • Explain what is dysbiosis. • Describe the different microbial microhabitat in the oral cavity and airways, the characteristic of the microbiota present and what mechanisms the oral cavity and airways have to clear or contain the microorganisms present. • Describe the different microbial microhabitat in the urogenital tract, the characteristic of the microbiota present and what mechanisms it uses to clear or contain the microorganisms present. • Describe the different microbial microhabitat in the skin, the general characteristics of the microbiota present. • Describe how the microbiota of any ecological niche on the human body can both protect against pathogenesis and at times participate in diseases. Explain what needs to happen for an infectious or opportunistic agent to cause disease. • Explain the role and utility of the commensal bacteria in our gut. • Describe the microbial microhabitat in the gastro-intestinal tract and the interactions between the commensal microbiota and the GI tract. • Describe the many roles of the gut microbiota in healthy individuals. • Describe the composition of the commensal flora in the GI tract and how it may change through time or under various selective pressures. GUT MICROBIOTA AND DISEASE • Name factors that can potentially strengthen a healthy gut microbiota and factors that may participate or influence the development of dysbiosis. • Explain how the factors named above may act on the symbiosis or dysbiosis of the gut microbiota. • Describe how pathogens can cause dysbiosis and disease. • Describes what conditions must be met for inflammation to occur in the gut. • Describes what links the gut microbiota to energy metabolism and obesity. • Discuss the limitation of mouse models to study the role of the gut microbiota in health and disease. • Describe at least one experiment showing the gut microbiota can influence metabolic disorders. • Explain how the microbiota might influence obesity, emphasizing the suspected systemic role of SCFA, the presence of Archaea and the role of dietary fibers. • Distinguish between probiotics and prebiotics, discuss their limitations. HOST-PATHOGEN RESPONSES • Describe what conditions need to be met for an infection and/or disease to occur. • Describe the cell structures or biochemical armour that microorganisms can deploy to infect us (virulence factors) and explain the mechanisms with which they can cause disease. • Distinguish between the terms: infection, bacteremia, and septicemia. • Explain what virulence means. • Explain what LD50 and ID50 are. • Distinguish between the terms cytotoxin, endotoxin, exotoxin, hemotoxin. • Describe the virulence mechanisms of the following toxins and their effect at the cellular, tissue or systemic levels when appropriate: Diphtheria toxin, Botulinum and Tetanus toxins, Cholera toxin, Cytolytic toxins (hemolysins and Staph alpha-toxin), Endotoxins. Read more