Microorganisms as hosts
Module 5

Prof. Costas Ehaliotis, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Lecturers:
• Prof. A. Chatzinotas, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany
• Prof. K. Koutsoumanis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
• Prof. Costas Ehaliotis, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
• Dr P. Kougias, Hellenic Agriculture Organization-DEMETER, Greece
• Dr S. Ntougias, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
• Dr. A. Gobet, France
• Prof. K. Kormas, University of Thessaly, Greece
• V Kokkoris, VU University Amsterdam

Learning outcomes

The students are expected at the end of the module to:

• Identify and become familiar with model microbe-microbe interactions currently known
• Get a good knowledge of the key microbial players in microbe-microbe interactions
• Get a good understanding of the mechanisms driving microbe-microbe interactions including responses to abiotic factors
• Understand the evolutionary drivers of established microbe-microbe interactions and co-evolution processes between the interacting microbes
• Combine pairwise to -biome approaches

The above learning objectives will be discussed at different integration levels: from genes and molecules to whole organisms and populations in an environment-dependent context

ECTS: 6
E-class: To be provided
Lectures

01. Cell-cell communication, evolution of cooperation, mutualism vs antagonism Ι.
02. Cell-cell communication, evolution of cooperation, mutualism vs antagonism ΙΙ.
03. Predatory bacteria and protists.
04. Viruses I (vectors of horizontal gene transfer and drivers of bacterial evolution).
05. Viruses II (Phages).
06. Bacteria in a fungus in a plant.
07. Phycosphere.
08. Lichens – Microbiomes in macrofungi.
09. Microbial inocula – Composition and effects on existing microbiomes.
10. Microbiomes in anaerobic digestion and wastewater treatment.
11. Microbial interactions in food fermentation.
12. Microbial habitats I (extreme environments, microbial mats)
13. Evaluation

Evaluation

• Written exams (70%)
• Case study / Fascination paper (30%)

Suggested readings

01. Bonfante & Dessiro A (2017) Who lives in a fungus? The diversity, origins and functions of fungal endobacteria living in Mucoromycota. ISME J 11: 1727-1735
02. Pawloska et al., (2019) Biology of Fungi and Their Bacterial Endosymbionts. Annual Review Phytopathology 56: 289-309
03. Flemming et al.(2016) Biofilms: an emergent form of bacterial life. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 14:563–575.
04. Carey et al. (2009) The sociobiology of biofilms. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 33:206–224.
05. Lami & Teyssedre (2021) Dialogue and cooperation among bacteria, Encyclopedia of the Environment, online ISSN 2555-0950.
06. Werner et al. (2014). Evolution of microbial markets. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 111:1237–1244.
07. Mandolini et al. (2021) Methods for Studying Bacterial–Fungal Interactions in the Microenvironments of Soil. Applied Sciences 11, 9182.
08. Cavaliere et al. (2017) Cooperation in microbial communities and their biotechnological applications. Environ. Microbiol. 19:2949–2963.
09. Tyler et al. (2021) Hostile Takeover: How Viruses Reprogram Prokaryotic Metabolism. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 75:515-539