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Microbial biofilm techniques


Technical University of Denmark


General course objectives:
The overall objective for the course is to give the students knowledge of state of the art techniques in biofilm research. The participants will learn how to grow and investigate biofilms in a laboratory setting and learn about general physiology of biofilm growing bacteria and special problems pertaining to treatment of patients infected with bacteria growing as a biofilm.

Learning objectives:
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
  • Perform biofilm flow cell setup and operation: Manipulation and monitoring of growing biofilms, antibiotic treatment of biofilms, viability assessment, on-line measurements of oxygen in biofilms, harvesting of biofilms.
  • Perform biofilm micro titer tray assays.
  • Use advanced optical microscopy techniques: Confocal microscopy and fluorescence microscopy, time-lapse (confocal) microscopy.
  • Perform Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) on embedded biofilms.
  • Perform simple biofilm experiments on an unknown organism that the participants bring them selves or isolate on site.
  • Perform mathematical image processing using COMSTAT analysis.
  • Perform digital image preparation and presentation (Imaris).
  • Present biofilm experiment results for an audience.

Contents:
The course is focused on microbial biofilms in the medical scenario with examples such as urinary tract infections and cystic fibrosis. The techniques include setup and running of biofilm flow cell systems, fluorescence in situ hybridization, various advanced imaging techniques, image analysis, flow cytometry, and more. The course will be partly practical with hands-on exercises complemented with lectures by prominent researchers in the field of medical microbiology and microbial biofilms. The actual course contents may vary a little from year to year.

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Course organizer
Claus , Arnaud Julien Antoine
Place/Venue
Anker Engelunds Vej 1
City
2800 Kgs. Lyngby
Country
Denmark
Workload
5
Link
http://kurser.dtu.dk/course/27820