CEE 4510 - Microbiology for Environmental Engineering

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: two semesters of college chemistry; organic chemistry or permission of instructor.

R. E. Richardson.

Introduction to the fundamental aspects of microbiology and biochemistry that are pertinent to environmental engineering and science. Provides an overview of the characteristics of Bacteria, Archaea, unicellular Eukaryotes (protozoa, algae, fungi), and viruses. Includes discussions of cell structure, bioenergetics and metabolism, and microbial genetics. Focus is then applied to topics pertinent to environmental engineering: pathogens; disease and immunity; environmental influences on microorganisms; roles of microbes in the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles; enzymes; bioremediation, bioenergy, molecular microbiology; and microbial ecology. This is an introductory course and is inappropriate for those who have taken BIOMI 2900 or equivalent.

Outcome 1: Recognize, name and predict important properties of key classes of organic compounds pertinent to both environmental contamination and biomolecules.

Outcome 2: Comprehend the organization and behavior of different types of microbial cells.

Outcome 3: Understand the diversity of microbial physiological and biochemical reactions.

Outcome 4: Describe key features of the informational macromolecules (DNA,RNA, and protein) and modern techniques for analyzing them in environmentally-relevant contexts.

Outcome 5: Make quantitative estimates of the impact of microbes on natural and engineered processes.