Curriculum

The principles and practice of whole-genome sequencing.  Each student will sequence an entire eukaryotic genome and analyze it. Topics will include: modern sequencing technologies, yeast husbandry, genomic library construction and quality control, 'next-generation' sequencing and its applications, sequence assembly, mutation detection and interpretation.

Course Coordinator: Dr. Atina Cote

This course is designed to give students with no prior experience in microbiology a fundamental understanding of central concepts in the field, focusing on bacteria.  Microbes are the most abundant life form on the planet.  They represent both a potent medical threat and our best avenue to solving many of the most pressing challenges, including sustainable energy production, bioremediation and production of recombinant pharmaceuticals.  A solid understanding of fundamental microbiology is an excellent foundation for future studies in biomedical research, medicine, dentistry, public health, and biomedical, environmental, and industrial engineering.

Particular Concepts And Questions We Will Focus On Include:

BACTERIAL PHYSIOLOGY AND STRUCTURE. 

Bacteria are simple cells, but they have very intricate subcellular architecture.  They can also be capable of metabolic tricks that "higher" organisms cannot perform, including utilizing a large number of compounds as energy sources.  Students will gain a solid basic understanding of bacterial architecture and metabolism.

THE HUMAN "MICROBIOME"

In a person, bacterial cells outnumber human cells by a factor of ten. These bacteria play critical roles in our health but only with recent advances in genome sequencing technology have we explored what these bacteria are doing for us.  Several recent studies indicate that our natural bacterial flora plays significant roles in causing or protecting us from obesity, diabetes, cancer, autoimmunity, allergy, and inflammatory bowel disease.

BACTERIAL GENETICS, GENOMICS, AND EVOLUTION.

The first genomes sequenced were from microbes, and the study of microbial genomics continues to drive fundamental concepts in bioinformatics and genome analysis.  Students will gain a basic understanding of how microbial genomes are sequenced, analyzed and how our knowledge of bacterial genomes has revolutionized our understanding of everything from the impact microbes have on the environment to how they cause disease.

HOW BACTERIA CAUSE DISEASE.

The vast majority of bacterial species are harmless. However, the causes of tuberculosis, dysentery, cholera, diphtheria, and plague are bacterial.  We will explore exactly how these bacteria cause disease and what makes pathogens different from most other bacteria.

THE EMERGENCE OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE.

The gains medical science has made in controlling infectious disease over the past few decades are rapidly being reversed by the emergence of strains resistant to most or all antibiotics.  We will cover what an antibiotic is, how they work, and the details of how bacteria evolve resistance.

MICROBIOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES.

The study of microbes, including E. coli and its phages, is the founding basis for molecular biology.  Throughout the course, we will introduce the techniques scientists have developed to study microbes and their genes.

Course Coordinator: Dr. Alan Davidson

A detailed study of viruses in terms of structure, classification, replication, and interaction with the host. The basis for advanced study in virology. Requires some familiarity with molecular and cellular biology

A concurrent course in immunology (IMM340/350, IMM341/351) is recommended.

Course Coordinator:  Dr. Alan Cochrane

A laboratory course in bacteriology. Students will perform a variety of genetic and biochemical experiments to identify and characterize unknown organisms and learn how bacteria live together in biofilm and become resistant to antibiotics. Students will also learn important research tools and concepts including CRISPRi, transduction, and conjugation through experiments. Valuable not only for advanced work in microbiology but also in related fields that make use of bacteria and bacteriophages as research tools.

Department-based Ancillary Fees: (subject to change): $25.00 - Laboratory equipment and materials

Course Coordinator: Dr. Jun Liu

Hands-on experiments provide the opportunity to develop skills in working safely with human viruses. Important concepts are learned through the analysis of results. Topics include propagation and assay of viruses in cell culture, viral vectors, examination of viruses by electron microscopy, replication kinetics, host response to infection and immunoassays for antibody detection.  Valuable not only in microbiology but in fields using viruses as tools for gene delivery.

Please Note: The lab section P0101 is offered Tuesday 9 AM-12 PM. P0201 is offered Tuesday 2 PM-5 PM.  P0201 will be offered if numbers exceed capacity in P0101. Capacity in the second term is determined by the need to work in biological safety cabinets which are limited in number. Since this is a hands-on course, it will be delivered IN PERSON.

Department-based Ancillary Fees: (subject to change): $25.00 - Laboratory equipment and materials

Course Coordinator: Dr. Martha Brown

Credit course for supervised participation in a faculty research project.

Detailed information is provided by the Faculty of Arts & Science at the link below.

 https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities. 

The participants in this course will discuss selected topics dealing mainly with regulatory mechanisms that control gene expression by RNA polymerase II in eukaryotes.  Topics will include assembly of the initiation complex; roles of transcription factors, co-activators and cis-acting regulatory elements; promoter escape; mechanisms that control elongation and termination of transcription; chromatin control of transcription; regulatory RNAs; and chromosome conformation.  The course will be structured to have an introductory lecture on a specific topic in one class. The next class will be a participatory discussion of pre-assigned research papers where all students will have prepared themselves to present any of the individual figures from the assigned readings papers.

COURSE OUTLINE

Course Coordinator: Dr. Jack Greenblatt

This course presents and integrates molecular aspects of signal transduction and cell cycle regulation in eukaryotic cells from yeast to humans. Emphasis is on recent advances in growth factor receptor signalling, modular protein domains, and the recurrent role of protein phosphorylation and protein-protein interactions in cell regulation.

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Course Coordinator: Dr. Sean Egan

A broad-ranging course that covers many aspects of genomics and functional genomics, which is the discipline of defining and attributing function to all of the heritable material of an organism on a genome-wide scale, as applied to invertebrates and vertebrates. The primary and review literature will be the basis of all lectures.

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Course Coordinator: Dr. Andrew Fraser

Topics will be selected from two or three themes that may include virus entry, intracellular trafficking, activation of host cell signalling pathways in response to infection, assembly and release of progeny virus, viral and host determinants of tissue tropism within the host and virus transmission between hosts.

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Course Coordinator: Dr. Martha Brown