MIBI 22534 Fundamentals and Applications of Environmental and Agricultural Microbiology

Course Code MIBI 22534
Title

Fundamentals and Applications of Environmental and Agricultural Microbiology

Pre-requisite MIBI 12514 & MIBI 12522
Co-requisite

MIBI 22542

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course unit student should be able to

  • discuss the causes and effects of oligotrophication and eutrophication in lakes and ponds,
  • discuss water purification techniques and indicator microorganisms used for microbiological quality of water,
  • demonstrate knowledge in solid and liquid waste management,
  • explain the principles of use of GIS in environmental microbiology,
  • describe the microbial communities in the environment and their interactions with plants causing diseases,
  • explain the application of pesticide to control microbial diseases in plants,
  • apply principles of Post harvest microbiology of fruits & vegetables to minimize losses.

Course content:
Environmental Microbiology
Microbial ecology and ecosystems, place and the significance of microorganisms in the ecosystem. Microbial interactions with plants, animals and microorganisms. Aquatic environment as a microbial habitat. Microbiology of air. Microbial contribution to pollution, pathogens, persistence of non-biodegradable Xenobiotic  molecules.

Environmental biotechnology: Microbiology of domestic water and sewage, water pollution, purification, sanitary quality, sewage treatment.(industrial and domestic). Bioremediation and Bioaugmentation.

Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS): Fundamental of GIS as a planning tool in environmental microbiology such as waste disposal, pollution control.

Agricultural Microbiology
Microbial disease of crops, symptoms of plant disease and mechanisms of microbial pathogenicity, Transmission of plant pathogens, viral diseases, viroid diseases, bacterial diseases, fungal diseases.
Agricultural biotechnology: control of crop diseases. pesticide microbiology. biological control of plant diseases. post-harvest microbiology of fruits and vegetables.

Soil microbiology: Diversity of microbial habitats,  Physical, chemical and biological aspects of soil structure. Methods of studying soil microorganisms. The significance of microbial biomass in soil. Biogeochemical cycles.

Method of teaching and learning:

A combination of lectures, tutorials, and computer assisted learning and assignments.

Assessment:

Continuous assessment and end of the course examination.

Recommended reading:

  1. Agrios, G.N. (1997). Plant Pathology, Academic Press
  2. Dikinson and Lucas (1998). Plant Pathology and Plant Pathogens. Blackwell
  3. Science, Inc. Oxford, UK.
  4. Hurst, C. J., Knudson, G. R. (1997). Manual of Environmental Microbiology Washington, ASM Press
  5. Ronald M.Atlas (1996). Microbiology Fundamentals and applications. Wm. C. Brown Publishers

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