This course will introduce students to the diversity of microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, viruses, and fungi, their roles in the larger biosphere and impacts on our daily lives. The interactions of microorganisms with their environment, other microorganisms and potential hosts will be discussed. Topics will include the beneficial and detrimental roles host-microbial interactions in overall health, immunity, host-pathogen interactions and disease, and the interventions used to combat infections.

This course uses a hands-on approach to investigate microbial growth and factors that impact growth and the interactions of microbes with biotic and abiotic environments. This course will explore the ecological diversity of microorganisms of selected environments. Students will develop a wide range of microbiology-related laboratory skills.

This course provides an introduction to the fungal lifestyle and to classification and evolution of the major groups of fungi, including microfungi, yeasts and other eukaryotic microbes. The characteristics of fungal cell structure, genetics and metabolism will be presented, and fungal reproduction and sporulation processes discussed with reference to the life cycles of representative forms. The ecological and economic importance of fungi will be demonstrated by considering fungal ecology, symbiotic relationships, mycotoxins and pathogenic fungi and industrial applications of fungi and yeasts.

In this course the interaction between plants and microorganisms will be studied. Topics include molecular plant-microbe interactions, plant defenses, bacterial ice nucleation, interaction among plant microbes, root nodulation, mycorrhizae, wood decay, and decomposition of plant litter.

This course provides an introduction to the immune response of the vertebrate host, the cells and tissues of the lymphoid system, humoral and cell-mediated immunity, the concept of immunity to diseases and current techniques in immunology.

In this course students examine the genetic and physiological responses of microorganisms to their diverse and changing environments. Topics covered include gene regulation, bacterial quorum sensing and bacterial phage immunity.

Viruses infecting many organisms will be covered in the context of their global impact on disease and history, beneficial uses of viruses, and their role in advances of molecular theory. A fundamental virology background will be achieved by understanding the diversity of viruses, their replication strategies and their interactions with the host in disease. The relevance of viruses in society will be highlighted by discussion of historical accounts and contemporary news articles.

In this course, students will examine microbial diversity and ecology across several ecosystems with an emphasis on the human microbiome and antibiotic producing soil microbes. The course will introduce key principles of diversity/ecology and introduce tools, including next generation sequencing, used to study complex microbial systems. The course will introduce and apply bioinformatic approaches to understand microbial diversity including through phylogenetic analyses, core and accessory genome comparisons, and functional annotations of genomes.

This course will use a hands-on approach to investigate concepts and develop skills needed for the isolation, identification and classification of microorganisms. Classical, molecular, and bioinformatic techniques will be used to isolate and identify bacteria and viruses from natural environments.

This course explores the interactions between microbial pathogens and host animals. Fundamental principles and recent advances in the field of microbial pathogenesis will be interactively discussed, including immune and inflammatory responses of the host's defense mechanisms. The structural and physiological characteristics of several important microbes causing human and animal diseases are considered.

In this course, students will examine the immune system through the lens of its interaction with non-pathogenic microbes. The course will uncover interactions with the microbiome that regulate immune system development, the role of immune-microbe interactions during health, and how disruption of these interactions contributes to disease. For example, changes in host-microbe crosstalk can contribute to the progression of Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and cancer. Finally, the course will explore opportunities for therapeutic intervention.

This course will focus on molecular aspects of virus replication cycles and the diverse strategies used for replication of select RNA and DNA viruses. Virus-host interactions including tumour virology and host antiviral responses such as interferon and apoptosis will be discussed. Viral anti host-defence responses as well as recent advances in molecular virology and evolution will be also be covered.

This course offers a practical, inquiry-driven experience to investigate core principles in microbial-host interactions and responses. Students will develop new practical skills to query microbial-host interactions and integrate previously developed practical skills in microbial diversity, bioinformatics, data analyses, and immunology, in experimental design. Students will critically evaluate research literature, assess techniques central to microbial-host interactions, and design and present a project addressing key questions relevant to microbes and human health.

This advanced course will integrate concepts of molecular virology, immunology, and factors impacting immune responses to develop an overarching view of host responses to viral infections. Students will develop a deeper molecular and cellular understanding of virus-host interactions. The molecular details of host immunological responses to different viruses will be discussed. Students will gain deeper insights into the mechanisms of viral immune evasion, antiviral interventions, and novel strategies in antiviral treatment. The course provides students with targeted skill development in scientific inquiry and communication.

This course is designed to present an overview of the major viruses causing important diseases in humans. The course focuses on the molecular mechanisms of viral pathogenesis, determinants of viral virulence and the host response to infections. Diagnosis of viral infections, vaccines and controls of viral infections are also discussed. The first part of the course will cover the basic principles and concepts used in the study of viral diseases, modern diagnostic methods and recent advances in the application of molecular virology to the development of recombinant vaccines and other means to combat viral diseases. The second half of the course will include material on the individual diseases and causative viruses.

This course explores the structure-function relationships of macromolecular complexes and cellular ultrastructures involved in fundamental microbial processes. The structures of macromolecular machines will be considered from the perspective of the cellular requirements for survival in different environments and will be discussed in the context of their integration into building the basic elements of the microbial cell, as well as their exploitation as targets for antibiotics and other therapeutic approaches.