This module takes place during summer semester!

Friends & Foes: Meet the bouncers (Practical course & seminar)

19470 „Make it right“ the do’s and don’t about scientific writing and image preparation

2a: "Quantity matters" - A Seminar about Sustainable Development Goals and the pivotal role of biologist in reaching those goals

Bored of yet another journal club? Do you like arts and creative formats? Do you want to learn how to communicate science to the public? Then this is your seminar! This seminar deals with challenges, developments, and possible solutions to aspects of sustainable food production from a quantitative biology perspective. The results of our joint research will be presented in the format of a science slam (after several rounds of training and a formal introduction to “science slams”).

2a: Plant genetics of sustainable agriculture

Please sign up for the lecture by self enrollment using the enrollment key "SDGs".

This lecture will be a flipped class room interactive lecture. The red threat of the lecture are the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations with a focus on plant-microbe interactions. Every lecture is composed of iterated units that follow this scheme:

The lecture series will be opened on Monday, 20th of April. Every other Monday, the next lecture will follow.

Bests, LMU Genetics

LSF 19254: Eukaryotic Gene Regulation


Genomic technologies and how they are (ab-)used in genetics

General information

This seminar is open for master and Phd students from the 2nd Master semester onwards. The seminar is an interdisciplinary seminar.

This seminar will be held in presence from 23.05. - 25.05. in room B02.015 (with a preparation meeting in May).

On each seminar day 2-5 students will present 15 minutes presentations followed by a common discussion. The publications are available online (here in moodle). The students will be assigned to their topics after the signing in period. If needed, each presentation and discussion will be followed by a short lecture (10 minutes given by the lecturer) summarizing again the most noteworthy points.

Content

We have got used to the fact that we can sequence (and meanwhile also manipulate) genomes. But how is a genome actually decoded - and how do you make sense of a "sequenced genome"? This seminar discusses genomic methods that explain how these technologies work and how they can be used to support genetic studies. 

Day 1: “What are genomic technologies?”. What are short reads and what are long reads? What can we do with them? How do we reconstruct genomes?

Day 2: "How can we use genomics to find causal mutations". We will look at genetic-mapping-by-sequencing.

Day 3: "The more surprising a result seems to be, the less likely it is to be true". We will be detectives and follow a genomic study that published wrong interpretations of their data and dig into scientific literature to see how this was corrected by the community.


Skills

At the end of the courses, students will be able to:

  • Unterstand latest genomic technologies including the pros and cons
  • Understand how genome sequencing can be used to find causal mutations
  • Prepare and plan a genome sequencing experiment
  • Know how to identify unreliably data in literature


Workload

Preparation for seminars: 4 h x 11 = 44 h

Seminar attendance: 6 h x 3 = 18 h

Preparation of presentation: 28 h



Seminar: Genetics and Society 1- Biotechnology

2b: Plant Innate Immunity (Practical course and seminar)

Practical course Plant Innate Immunity July 5th through July 16th

This combined practical course and seminar will be delivered remotely and in the form of a theoretical practical. If possible, we will offer a blended practical course with some laboratory training.

The course "Plant Innate Immunity" will address two important biological questions:

1) What is the genetic distribution of MAMP recognition systems across the plant kingdom? And what are the genetic components of plant immunity that can be utilised in agriculture?

2) What are the genetic components of pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) missing in mutants of the model system A. thaliana? And what are the genetic components pathogens use to suppress plant immunity?


2b: Mechanisms of the Innate Immune System (Seminar)

Seminar Mechanisms of the Innate Immune System 

The seminar will be delivered in person.

The outcome of plant infection by micro-organisms can be striking and essential for survival. But what are the molecular mechanisms, by which plants defend infectious pathogens while retaining the ability to associate with beneficial microbes? In this seminar we will zoom into the PRR and NLR immune receptors. Reviewing, understanding and presenting the most recent research is used to gain knowledge on the origin, evolution, structure and signalling mechanisms required for the function of these receptors. A basis for this seminar is the lecture "Plant Innate Immunity".


2b: Plant Innate Immunity (Lecture)

Lecture Plant Innate Immunity Mondays from April 12th through July 12th

The lecture will be delivered in the form of interactive videos.

The aim of this lecture is the comparative elucidation of molecular principles that enable eukaryotic host cells to control microbial infections. We will discuss everything from genetic aspects of pattern evolution to structural aspects in receptor-ligand binding to biochemical aspects of kinase signalling that all contribute to host adaptation and are key for immunity. While we focus on plant-microbe interactions, you will see that there are common principles that have evolved in most eukaryotic systems.

Skills

  • Explain concepts and prime examples of the plant immune system, both in principle and theory.
  • Demonstrate a genetic, molecular, biochemical and cell biology understanding of plant-microbe interactions.
  • Discuss current knowledge and apply critical thinking to plant health and infectious diseases.