- Docente: Maria Gabriella Maurizii
- Credits: 6
- SSD: BIO/06
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Biodiversity and Evolution (cod. 8419)
Learning outcomes
The aim of this course is to provide knowledge concerning animal development by discussing different invertebrates and vertebrates model systems.
Course contents
History and basic concepts. Gametogenesis: spermatogenesis and oogenesis. Fertilization: the egg-sperm recognition; the prevention of polyspermy; the activation of egg metabolism. Cell-cell communication in development: the gap junctions; cell adhesion molecules ( CAMs, integrins, cadherins); paracrine factors and signal transduction. The specification of embryonic development: differences between mosaic development and regulative development. Strategies of cleavage and gastrulation in Xenopus laevis, chicken, mouse and human, as examples of vertebrates development. The axis formation; the origin and specification of the germ layers. Dorsal-ventral axis formation in Amphibians: the Spemann organizer, the origin of the Nieuwkoop center; the function of beta catenina; molecules involved in the dorsal, intermediate and ventral induction of mesoderm. Differentiation of neural ectoderm. Antero-posterior axis formation. Homeotic genes in the vertebrates development.
At the end of the course, it will be available an updated and more detailed list of course contents.
Readings/Bibliography
Developmental Biology 6° Ed , Scott F. Gilbert, Sinauer Associates Inc - Sunderland Mass
Biologia dello Sviluppo , II° italian edition conducted on the fifth English edition, Lewis Wolpert, Zanichelli Ed.
Teaching methods
The course includes 40 hours (5CFU) of classroom lectures plus 12 hours (1CFU) of lab practical training on cellular differentiation. During frontal lessons and lab experience, interactive critical discussion will be encouraged.
Assessment methods
The final oral examination consists of two parts: 1) Power Point presentation and critical discussion on a topic, that students choice from recently published papers on developmental biology field. 2) Questions on topics discussed in frontal lectures and during the laboratory training. The final mark, expressed in thirtieths, will be obtained by averaging the two single marks.
Teaching tools
Power point presentations. PDF files of these slides will be available to the students. Lab equipment for practical training.
Office hours
See the website of Maria Gabriella Maurizii