Molecular Biology of Microorganisms

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Program Overview

The ‘Molecular Biology of Microorganisms’ Master's programme focuses primarily on the molecular mechanisms of microbial structure, physiology, genetics and genetic regulation. The know-how acquired in this course covers several important areas of modern microbiology, including medical, veterinary, agricultural, environmental, industrial and food microbiology.

The teaching staff take a particular interest in the personal work of each student, through sessions analysing scientific articles and a one-month work placement in any type of structure where a microbiologist could work (research, diagnostic or analysis laboratory, public or private), followed by the writing of a work placement report. These personal activities, which are supervised and assessed by members of the teaching team, contribute enormously to preparing students for their final projects and professional careers.

On completion of the course, students will have the skills and experience needed for a career in research, academic, medical and biotechnology institutions.


Teaching Language : French/English

Curriculum Highlights

Core Courses

The core courses are designed to encourage students to develop scientific independence, creativity and critical thinking skills, which will enable them to recognise and solve key problems in the molecular biology of microorganisms.Here are some examples of topics covered in the core courses:

1.     Diversity and ecology of microorganisms: diversity of microorganisms in the environment, roles and functions of microorganisms in the environment, major biogeochemical cycles, diversity of metabolites of these microorganisms, adaptation of bacteria to environmental stresses.

  1. Metabolism and microbial physiology: molecular mechanisms of the microbial cell cycle, biosynthesis of the microbial envelope and its functional role, motility and chemotaxis, modes of bacterial cell differentiation, microbial metabolism.
  2. Molecular microbiology: structure and dynamics of prokaryotic genomes, horizontal transfers and the factors involved, mobile genetic elements involved in horizontal transfers: insertion sequences, transposons, integrons, pathogenicity islands.
  3. Cell biology: functional compartmentalisation of the cell, general mechanics of intracellular trafficking, addressing of proteins, polysaccharides and lipids.
  4. Molecular virology: classification of viruses, multiplication of RNA viruses, multiplication of DNA viruses, transcription and translation of viral genomes, plant viruses and viroids.
  5. Molecular Immunology: introduction and history, fundamental concepts of immunology, main cellular and molecular components of the immune system, natural and adaptive immunity, cell-mediated immunity, humoral-mediated immunity.
  6. Host-pathogen interactions: adhesion, invasion, bacterial toxins, iron acquisition mechanisms, biofilms, strategies for escaping the immune system.
  7. Regulation of gene expression: regulation by regulatory proteins: activation vs. repression, control of the lactose operon, control of the tryptophan operon, catabolic repression, global regulation by Quorum sensing, global regulation by two-component systems.
  8. Infectious microbiology: respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, urinary and sexual infections, eye and skin infections, cardiovascular and nervous system infections. 


Advanced Topics

Advanced topics deepen the concepts and techniques presented in the core courses and introduce more specialised areas. They are generally intended for students who already have a solid grounding in the molecular biology of microorganisms. Here are some examples of advanced topics:

1.     Molecular genetics of eukaryotes: mitosis and meiosis, life cycles, principles of genetic analysis, Mendelian genetics, non-Mendelian genetics, principles of genetic mapping.

  1. Microbiological analysis techniques: hygiene and safety measures in the laboratory, microorganism inoculation and culture techniques, microorganism enumeration techniques, microorganism detection and identification techniques.
  2. Bioinformatics and genomics of micro-organisms: genome sequencing: sequencing methods and genome assembly, biological databases, similarity searches in sequence databases, multiple alignments: pattern searches and phylogeny.
  3. Analysis of experimental data in Biology: population and sample: types of sampling, simple random sampling, representative and skewed sampling, measurement of trend and variability and form: measurement of trend: mode, mean, median, quartiles, measurement of variability: variance, standard deviation, coefficient of variation.
  4. Microbial biotechnology: microorganisms of biotechnological interest, fermentation processes: technological and biochemical engineering aspects, techniques for separating and purifying biomolecules, recombinant protein technologies, biotechnologies for pharmacological purposes (biomolecules of therapeutic interest).
  5. Biochemical and molecular analysis techniques: paper chromatography of amino acids, thin layer chromatography of lipids, spectrophotometry, non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, extraction and revelation of Isoenzymes separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. 


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Admissions Information

Bachelor's degrees in biology or equivalent


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