2022•08•05     Peru

We are glad to announce the Course “Bacteriophages: from genome to metagenome” This event is coordinated by Dr Mariana Piuri, IQUIBICEN-CONICET, Argentina.  

Seven Speakers from different Universities and Institutions —Argentina, Colombia and United Kingdom— will join the line-up of this course:  

• Dr Martha Rebecca Clokie Microbiology at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom 

• Dr Mariana Piuri, CONICET 
• Dr Alejandro Reyes, Department of Biological Sciences Universidad de los Andes 
• Dr Nancy Lopez, CONICET 
• Dr Vanina Grippo, CONICET 
• Dr Leonardo Erijman, CONICET INGEBI 

• Dr Leticia Bentancor, CONICET 

The course is two-weeks full time (80 hours total) including wet and dry lab practices and lectures from renowned phage biologists. Lectures are usually during the morning (9 AM- 12 PM) and after lunch, lab practices are done (1 PM – 6 PM).  

The course is oriented to students graduated from: Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Informatics, Medicine and Veterinary. The main targets are PhD students and young researchers working or interested in bacteriophage related topics and/or big data analysis. Social activities for gathering of students and professors are also organized during the course.  

The following topics are included in the lectures: 

• Bacteriophages, basic concepts. Discovery, classification, structure, multiplication cycles, lysis/lysogeny regulation, genome replication, lysis, host recognition.  
• Use of phages in therapy and biocontrol for human, animal and plant diseases.  
• Phages for detection of pathogens in food and clinical samples.  
• Study of the bacteriophage involved in Shiga toxin production. 
• Phage display: general applications.  
• Recombineering and other techniques for modification of bacteriophage genomes.  
• Microbial Ecology: Role of phages in bacterial communities  
• Role of bacteriophages in environmental processes (bioremediation)  
• Introduction to bioinformatics and Next generation sequencing techniques. 
• Metagenomics and Viral Metagenomics, applications to the human gut 

Lab practices will be focused on: 

• Isolation and characterization of bacteriophages from environmental samples (soil: Mycobacteriophages and raw milk: Lactobacillus phages). Isolation. Purification. Preparation of high titer phage stocks. DNA extraction for restriction analysis and sequencing.  
• Bacteriophage and bacterial genome annotation.  
• Metaviromes assembly and analysis.  

Participation in Segundas Jornadas Latinoamericanas de Bacteriófagos (22nd and 23rd of November) is part of the programmed activities.  

Please take in consideration that Saturday 26th is a full day of activities. 

The training is a hands-on course centered in the generation and analysis of big biological data. Bacteriophages will be used as models for the integration of several disciplines, from genomics, biotechnology and big emphasis in the analysis of genomic and viral metagenomics data.
 

The main aims of the course are: 

1) Introduce the students to the importance of the study of bacteriophages: i) for the development of new paradigms ii) due to the role of this abundant, diverse and complex biological entities in bacterial evolutionary processes through horizontal transfer  

2) Highlight the role of bacteriophages in microbial communities, emphasizing the discovery of new phages from metagenomic analysis

3) Introduce the students to new bioinformatics tools for phage genome annotation and assembly of viral genomes from complex metagenomic data 

4) Demonstrate the utility of bacteriophages in the development of tools for genetic manipulation of bacteria and phage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics 

5) Exploit the use of phages for detection of pathogens in food and clinical samples 

The Open Call is open to anyone interested.  

You can download the information here

Applicants must apply via email bacteriofagosuba2022@gmail.com 

Deadline: August 15th, 2022 

More information on the website: http://www.iquibicen.fcen.uba.ar/lineadeinvestigacin/curso-postgrado-bacteriofagosphage-course/