MCB 3895: UConn SWI Learning Goals

  1. Know the three domains of life, how they are related, and examples of each domain.
  2. Be able to draw Gram-positive and Gram-negative prokaryotic cells, and know the structure and function of key parts.
  3. Know shared features and differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
  4. Know molecular properties of the 4 biomolecules of life.
  5. Be able to explain the basis for specificity at a molecular level
  6. Understand the nature of covalent and non-covalent chemical bonds and their roles in protein structure.
  7. Be able to describe the properties of lipid membranes and the proteins in them.
  8. Understand the difference between passive and energy-requiring cellular events and how both are accomplished by a cell.
  9. Be able to explain the relationship among enzymes, active sites, substrates, cofactors, inhibitors, and reaction products.
  10. Know how oxidation/reduction reactions drive the energy production in bacteria.
  11. Know how information flows in a cell (in the process of gene expression) starting with the information encoded within a gene (central dogma).
  12. Explain the mechanism of DNA replication, transcription and translation.
  13. Identify similarities between transcription, translation and DNA replication (in terms of where in the cell they occur, when and how they occur.
  14. Articulate the role of base pairing in nucleic acid replication, transcription, and translation?
  15. Be able to explain the mechanism of the translation process and the specific role of key molecules (DNA, mRNA, rRNA, tRNA, microRNA, amino acids, ribosomes).
  16. Distinguish key ways in which gene expression differs in prokaryotes vs. eukaryotes (e.g. gene organization, processing, location of events).
  17. Be able to predict the effects of various classes of mutations on mRNA production, polypeptide levels and activity.
  18. Be able to navigate the various sections of a scientific journal article to locate relevant information.
  19. Define genome, metagenome, and transcriptome.
  20. Be able to explain the basis for building a molecular phylogenetic tree
  21. Explain why the ribosomal 16S gene is a good “marker” for molecular phylogenetic analyses.
  22. Be able to distinguish and explain the three mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer (conjugation, transformation, transduction).
  23. Be able to explain why horizontal gene transfer can speed up the evolution of antibiotic resistance relative to spread of resistance gained through vertical transfer of mutation.
  24. Explain the origins of mitochondria and chloroplasts and the evidence that supports this theory.
  25. Describe natural selection
  26. Explain how organisms acquire adaptive traits through random mutation rather than in response to the selective agent in the environment.
  27. Be able to refute the notion that people become resistant to antibiotics through increased use.