Year 1 Medicine (MS01) Student Selected Components

Life and Death: Biochemistry of the mitochondrion

Subject content:
Students will study the structure and function of the mitochondrion. In particular, the molecular basis of bioenergetic processes (including ATP production) will be concentrated upon. In addition, the role of mitochondria in ‘programmed cell death’ (apoptosis) will be examined.

Educational Aims: (what the student will get out of this SSC)
Students will understand the key biochemical processes of the mitochondrion. Students will gain experience in researching the published scientific literature for reviews and original research articles. Students will write a short review article of their own on the subject, which will teach skills in how to structure a scientific article, how to organise references and correctly cite the research of others, and how to present figures. Overall, students will gain experience of the process of documenting and communicating scientific data.

 

Year 3 BI31053 Microbial Growth and Biotechnology

Subject content:
Students will receive an initial block of three lectures covering signal transduction, responses to environmental stresses, and chemotaxis. "Two -component signal transduction systems' is a theme that will run through these first three lectures. A second block of four lectures will focus on bacterial energy metabolism. The students will hear about fermentation, respiration, and photosynthesis from a combined physiological / biochemical viewpoint. It is hoped that these seven lectures will form a firm foundation for molecular microbiology courses offered in the Final Year.

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Final Year 4A05 Bacterial Membrane Biology

Subject content:
This unit will provide an advanced understanding of the structure, function, and activity of biological membranes and membrane-associated proteins. The unit will concentrate exclusively on bacteria as model systems. Upon completion of this unit, students will understand the fundamental principles of membrane protein structure and how these relate to function; the molecular basis of transport of ions, protons, and other small molecules across membranes; the molecular basis of protein targeting to, and transport across, membranes; and experimental approaches to studying membrane protein structure and function. This unit is organised by Frank Sargent and includes contributions from Tracy Palmer, Sarah Coulthurst and Arnaud Javelle.

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Final Year 4C18 Bioenergy & Bioremediation

Subject content:
This unit will provide an advanced understanding of the microbial physiology, genetics, and biochemistry that underpin modern approaches to biofuel production and waste management. The unit will focus on the role of microbes (both prokaryotic and fungal) in these applications. Concepts such as synthetic biology, chemical biology and nanotechnology will be introduced and discussed at an advanced level. Pure scientific research will be put in biotechnological and environmental contexts. This unit is organised by Frank Sargent and includes a significant contribution from Geoff Gadd.

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Final Year Research Project

Suitable for students in the biological sciences BSc Honours classes

Project type
Laboratory

Project area
Biohydrogen: bacterial hydrogen metabolism and hydrogenases. Many prokaryotes, and bacteria in particular, have the ability to use hydrogen gas as an energy source for respiration and growth. Moreover, some bacteria actually produce hydrogen gas (biohydrogen) under some growth conditions. The potential for tapping into this resource as a novel, clean, and flexible biofuel is enormous. Sadly, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of bacterial hydrogen metabolism is poor. The overall aim of our research is to understand at the molecular level, the structure and function of the hydrogenase enzymes responsible for hydrogen production and hydrogen oxidation. Using this new knowledge it will be possible to engineer improved natural enzymes and pathways, design completely synthetic enzymes, or dream-up unusual enzymatic chimeras, that may boost biohydrogen production.
This lab-based project offers training in microbiological (handling and culturing of bacteria such as E. coli); molecular biological (gene cloning, site-directed mutagenesis); biochemical (protein purification and characterization); and biophysical (protein-protein interaction) techniques.

References:
Lukey,M.J., Parkin,A., Roessler,M.M., Murphy,B.J., Harmer,J., Palmer,T., Sargent,F., and Armstrong,F.A. (2010) How Escherichia coli is equipped to oxidize hydrogen under different redox conditions. Journal of Biological Chemistry 285, 3928-39238.

Lazarus,O., Woolerton,T.W., Parkin,A., Lukey,M.J., Reisner,E., Seravalli,J., Pierce,E., Ragsdale,S.W., Sargent,F., and Armstrong,F.A. (2009) Water-gas shift reaction catalyzed by redox enzymes on conducting graphite platelets. Journal of the American Chemical Society 131, 14154-14155.

Redwood,M.D., Mikheenko,I.P., Sargent,F., and Macaskie,L.E. (2008) Dissecting the roles of E. coli hydrogenases in biohydrogen production. FEMS Microbiology Letters 278, 48-55.