New Modules: Microbial Ecology of Natural Ecosystems, Bioinformatics for environmental microbiology and Sectors and Bioremediation

Starting this winter semester, the Department for Environmental Microbiology is offering three new modules, Microbial Ecology of Natural Ecosystems, Bioinformatics for environmental microbiology and Sectors and Bioremediation, all of which are available as electives to master students in the programs UMW, WASTE and WAREM. The modules are open for enrollment on C@mpus and will be offered every winter semester from now on. For more information on what the modules entail, please see below or check out our teaching webpage.

This module provides insights into the fascinating world of microorganisms and their important roles in different environmental systems. The module includes microbial evolution and the significance of microbes to life on earth. It further offers cutting-edge methods to study microbial diversity, identification and quantification. Microbial activities and processes will be tackled and methods to discern and measure them. The biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and metals will also be investigated, highlighting the interactions between microorganisms and their environment. Natural ecosystems ranging from freshwater and marine environments to sediments, soils, subsurface zones, and extreme habitats like hydrothermal vents or polar regions, serve as models for gaining insights into the adaptability and diversity of microorganisms and their functions. In this context, the module furthermore focusses on the stability and the dynamics of environments and offers crucial insights into the influence of human activities on natural ecosystems. The lecture is accompanied by an exercise where students apply the gained knowledge on the example of different ecosystems and by an excursion to a natural ecosystem to further foster the gained knowledge.

This module offers a holistic perspective on the ecology of microorganisms and lays the foundation for a deeper understanding of their functions in natural ecosystems. This knowledge in fundamental for advanced microbiological classes and lays the basis for a deeper understanding of the microbiology in technical systems. The module will be graded by a written exam.

Courses:
- Lecture on Microbial Ecology of Natural Ecosystems
- Excursion to a natural ecosystem
- Exercises on Microbial Ecology of Natural Ecosystems

The applied bioinformatics module will introduce students to the use of molecular biological tools as well as its applications in the field of environmental microbiology. Studying microorganisms in the environments they inhabit can be a crucial task as their presence and capabilities ultimately determine what kind of processes can occur in these environments. Understanding how these communities work and what drives their metabolisms allows us to determine how we can improve their functioning in applications such as wastewater treatment plant or bioremediation processes. However, it is often not possible to isolate and grow them in the laboratory. To bypass this issue, microbiologists use sequencing-based molecular tools, including 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and those commonly known as “omics tools” (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, among others) along with various bioinformatic analyses to characterize these microbes without the need to culture them. The lecture will provide students with the theory of the functioning behind sequencing-based molecular tools and how they are applied in environmental sciences. The practical class will show the students how bioinformatics analyses are performed. They will then apply bioinformatics tools in a case study in which they will analyse an existing dataset to explain what happens to the microbial communities in the chosen scenario.

Courses:
- Lecture on Principles of nucleic acid sequencing and bioinformatic analysis
- Practical exercises on Bioinformatics for DNA sequencing

The bioremediation module will examine bioremediation methods and their applications through a lecture course and a case study coupled with an excursion. There are a multitude of pollutants or contaminants that come from anthropogenic activities such as oil and gas processing, mining, and agriculture. These pollutants can cause long-term issues not only for humans, but also for other macroflora and -fauna and the natural microbial community. These pollutants can also find their way into another crucial anthropogenic sector, wastewater treatment. Through the lecture and case study, students will learn about various bioremediation methods and how they can be applied in the anthropogenic sectors listed above. Furthermore, in the lecture case study, students will apply what they have learned to develop their own bioremediation scenario and address the potential positive outcomes along with the challenges
they would face in the application of the scenario.

Courses:
- Lecture on Sectors and bioremediation
- Excursion and practical class