BB833: Marine Microbiology (5 ECTS)

STADS: 04009801

Level
Master's level course

Teaching period
The course is offered in the autumn semester.
2nd quarter

Teacher responsible
Email: khabicht@biology.sdu.dk

Additional teachers
atreusch@biology.sdu.dk
rnglud@biology.sdu.dk

Timetable
There is no timetable available for the chosen semester.

Comment:
Kurset er aflyst efteråret 2011 p.g.a. for få tilmeldinger.

Kurset undervises på engelsk

Prerequisites:
None

Academic preconditions:
Bachelor's degree in Biology or equivalent.
Students with passed BB829 Aquatic Geomicrobiology are not allowed to take this course.

Course introduction
This course will provide an in-depth understanding of the role of microorganisms in different marine environments with special focus on their role in marine carbon and nutrient cycles. The course will also introduce the methods needed to quantify this role, including microbial methods aimed at evaluating microbial abundance, diversity and function.

Expected learning outcome
At the end of the course the students should be able to:

• Describe some of the most important marine microorganisms.
• Discuss the use of genomics and metagenomics in marine environments.
• Use and discuss different methods to identify and quantify marine microorganisms.
• Discuss the role of picoplankton in marine environments.
• Discuss the role of microorganisms in the marine pelagic carbon cycle.
• Discuss the used methods to quantify primary production in marine environments.
• Use and describe different methods to quantify rates of carbon degradation in the water column.
• Discuss the importance of microbes in the cycling of bioactive elements in the marine water column with an emphasis on C, S, P and N cycling.
• Discuss the importance of sediments for the flux of bioactive compounds in and out the water column, and have the ability to quantify these various fluxes.
• Discuss the development, microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of oxygen minimum zones in the global ocean.
• Describe different extreme marine environments.

Subject overview

1. The bacterial and archaeal communities in marine water and different molecular ecology techniques to identify these organisms.
2. Genomics and metagenomics of marine prokaryotes.
3. Ecology and diversity of picoeukaryotes.
4. Primary producing microorganisms and methods to quantify marine primary production.
5. The marine carbon cycle and quantification of some of the most important processes.
6. The role of microbes in controlling the cycling of bioactive elements including oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur in the marine water column.
7. The water-sediment interface and methods to quantify the flux of bioactive compounds.
8. The role of oxygen-minimum zones in pelagic environments.
9. Extreme marine environments

Literature

• Kirchman, David L: Microbial Ecology of the Ocean , 2nd edition, Wiley- Blackwell, 2008.
• Kompendium til Marine Microbiology , 2011.

Website
This course uses e-learn (blackboard).

Prerequisites for participating in the exam
None

Assessment and marking:
a) Lab. work, pass/fail, internal evaluation by the teacher (1 ECTS).
b) Written exam, Danish 7-point grading scale, external examiner (4 ECTS).

Re-examination after 2nd quarter.

Expected working hours
The teaching method is based on three phase model.

Forelæsninger, antal timer: 14
Eksaminatorietimer: 14
Laboratorieøvelser, antal timer: 28
Educational activities

Language
This course is taught in English.

Remarks
This course replaces BB829 Aquatic Geomicrobiology.

Course enrollment
See deadline of enrolment.

Tuition fees for single courses
See fees for single courses.