mar600 Profile Module Methods in Aquatic Microbial Ecology

Aufnahmekapazität:

VL/SE: max. 20
Ü: max. 12

Lehr-/Lernform:

Block course, 2 weeks
practical course and seminar 

VL/SE, Ü Untersuchungsmethoden in der Aquatischen Mikrobiellen Ökologie

1 assessement of examination:

Portfolio (max. 3 pieces of work) or minutes (approx. 15-20 pages)

Will be announced during the course.

Skills to be acquired in this module

The students learn to:

- analyse bacterial substrates at ambient concentrations such as dissolved amino acids and carbohydrates by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
- determine bacterial cell numbers by flow cytometry and epifluorescence microscopy and to analyse these data by image analysis.
- extract bacterial DNA from water and sediment samples.
- amplify bacterial genes by specific primers and PCR.
- assess bacterial communities by culture-independent methods such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and next generation sequencing.
- present and discuss scientific results.
- write a scientific protocol.

The students gain competences in:

- Understanding how to analyse dissolved substrates of heterotrophic aquatic bacterial communities by state of the art approaches.
- How to assess the abundance of aquatic bacterial communities by state of the art approaches.
- Analysing the composition of bacterial communities by PCR-based culture-independent approaches.