Microbial Symbiosis with Animals and Plants
MMI 677 [Spring 2007]
Instructors Margaret McFall-Ngai, Jean-Michel Ane, Cameron Currie, Jo Handelsman, and Edward Ruby. Meets Wed 2:30-5:00 pm in 408 SMI
A group of faculty in the UW Symbiosis Cluster is offering a course on the topic of animal and plant symbioses with microorganisms. The goal of the course is to explore the depth and breadth of the field in an integrative and critical manner.
Syllabus
Readings for Jan. 31st and Feb. 7th: 1. General methods to investigate microbial symbioses; Figures; Tables;2. Reciprocal gut microbiota transplants from zebrafish and mice to germ-free recipients reveal host habitat selection;3. They've got a ticket to ride: Xenorhabdus nematophila-Steinernema carpocapse
Readings for Feb. 14th and 21st: 1. Infection and invasion of roots by symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing rhizobia during nodulation of temperate legumes; 2. Signaling in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis; 3. Endophyte or parasite - what decides? 4. The actinorhizal symbiosis.
Readings for Feb. 28th and March 7th: 1. Bacteria in the leaf ecosystem with emphasis on Pseudomonas syringae--a pathogen, ice nucleus, and epiphyte; 2. The use of genetically engineered bacteria to control frost on strawberries and potatoes. Whatever happened to all of that research? 3. Inaugural Article: Appetite of an epiphyte: Quantitative monitoring of bacterial sugar consumption in the phyllosphere; 4. Quorum-sensing regulation govern bacterial adhesion, biofilm development, and host colonization in Pantoea stewartii subspecies stewartii.
Readings for March 14th and 24th: 1. Coevolved crypts and exocrine glands support mutualistic bacteria in fungus-growing ants; 2. Ancient host-pathogen associations maintained by specificity of chemotaxis and antibiosis; 3. The evolution of mutualisms: exploring the paths between conflict and cooperation; 4. Mutualistic fungi control crop diversity in fungus-growing ants.
Readings for April 11th and 18th: 1. The winnowing: Establising the squid-Vibrio symbiosis; 2. Vibrio fischeri and its host: it takes two to tango; 3. Microbial factor-mediated development in a host-bacterial mutualism; 4. Vibrio fischeri uses two quorum-sensing systems for the regulation of early and late colonization factors.
Readings for April 25th and May 2nd: 1. Microbial communities in lepidopteran guts: From models to metagenomics; 2. Midgut bacteria required for Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal activity. |
