[Reform of courses for microbial genetics and breeding].

Microbial genetics and breeding is a compulsory course for "Bioengineering Excellence Talents Experimental Class" and "Bioengineering International Student Class". However, the traditional teaching model has many deficiencies in terms of content selection, teaching methods and examination forms. At Tianjin University of Science and Technology, to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching, especially in the field of microbiology, innovative leaders who meet the needs of national and international communities are highly needed. This article describes the reformed teaching content, teaching methods, and curriculum assessment methods of microbial genetics and breeding. With the help of the latest scientific research progress, pre-class preview system, video display, and diversified assessment methods, teaching mode has been innovatively reformed. As such, students not only mastered the relevant professional knowledge of microbial genetics and breeding, but also exercised their subjective initiative, teamwork consciousness, professional foreign language expression level, and cultivated their interest in scientific knowledge related to microbial genetics.

Using a microbial physiologic and genetic approach to investigate how bacteria sense physical stimuli.

A laboratory exercise was designed to illustrate how physical stimuli such as temperature and light are sensed and processed by bacteria to elaborate adaptive responses. In particular, we use the well-characterized Des pathway of Bacillus subtilis to show that temperature modulates gene expression, resulting ultimately in modification of the levels of unsaturated fatty acids required to maintain proper membrane fluidity at different temperatures. In addition, we adapt recent findings concerning the modulation by light of traits related to virulence such as motility and biofilm formation in the chemotropic bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii. Beyond the theoretical background that this activity provides regarding sensing of environmental stimuli, the experimental setup includes approaches derived from classic genetics, microbiology, and biochemistry. The incorporation of these kind of teaching and training activities in middle-advanced Microbiology or Bacterial Genetics courses promotes acquisition of general and specific techniques and improves student's comprehension of scientific literature and research.

[Analysis of several key problems about the two linkage gene mapping of Neurospora crassa in genetics teaching].

Ordered tetrad analysis is important content in the genetics teaching. In particular, the two linkage gene mapping is not only a key point, but also a difficult one. How to explain the content better is a hard nut for the many genetics teachers or editors of the teaching material to crack. Here, based on teaching practice of many years we summarized several key problems, which are difficult to understand by students and frequently neglected by the teachers and the editors of genetics. Furthermore, we deeply analyzed these problems and presented some opinions and suggestions relative to them so as to provide a reference for the teachers of genetics and the editors of teaching materials.