Unit ANIMAL BIOLOGY
- Course
- Veterinary medicine
- Study-unit Code
- GP005363
- Curriculum
- In all curricula
- Teacher
- Stefano Capomaccio
- CFU
- 5
- Course Regulation
- Coorte 2024
- Offered
- 2024/25
- Type of study-unit
- Obbligatorio (Required)
- Type of learning activities
- Attività formativa integrata
MENDELIAN INHERITANCE IN THE ANIMALS
| Code | GP005394 |
|---|---|
| CFU | 3 |
| Teacher | Stefano Capomaccio |
| Teachers |
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| Hours |
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| Learning activities | Base |
| Area | Discipline biologiche e genetiche vegetali ed animali |
| Academic discipline | AGR/17 |
| Type of study-unit | Obbligatorio (Required) |
| Language of instruction | Italian |
| Contents | DNA: structure, mutations, genes, alleles, and loci. Mitosis and Meiosis. Chromosomes: autosomes, sex chromosomes, X-inactivation. Mendelian genetics, laws and exceptions. Codominance, multiple alleles, expressivity, penetrance, modifier genes, and lethal genes. Pleiotropy, epistasis. Chiasma and crossing-over. Linkage |
| Reference texts | Textbooks: Binelli, Ghisotti GENETICS, II/2023, EDISES Russel, Hertz & McMillan, ELEMENTS OF GENETICS, II edition, EDISES Reference texts: Lorenzetti, Ceccarelli, Rosellini, Veronesi, AGRICULTURAL GENETICS, Patron Editore The material presented in lectures will be available on Unistudium. |
| Educational objectives | The course represents the first genetics course in the Veterinary Medicine curriculum and focuses on the basic aspects of inheritance. The primary objective of the course is to provide students with a solid foundation in genetics, both in terms of formal understanding and terminology, to prepare them for subsequent courses. The course represents the first genetics course in the Veterinary Medicine curriculum and focuses on the basic aspects of inheritance. The primary objective of the course is to provide students with a solid foundation in genetics, both in terms of formal understanding and terminology, to prepare them for subsequent courses. D1 - KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING The student must: -understand meiosis and mitosis, -understand genetic sex determination, -define genes, alleles, and loci, and mutations, -know Mendelian laws and their exceptions. D2 - APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING At the end of the course, the student must: -identify the inheritance pattern (dominant/recessive) of Mendelian traits in animals, -recognize exceptions to Mendelian laws in animals. D3 - INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT At the end of the course, the student should be able to: -use Mendelian traits in breeding programs for animals. D4 - COMMUNICATION SKILLS At the end of the course, the student should be able to: -organize, prepare, and present a presentation on a Mendelian trait to an audience of peers, with personal evaluations supported by appropriate arguments, -engage in a discussion with peers or experts from different fields, including regulatory, scientific, procedural, and/or technological aspects, -demonstrate proficiency in both written and oral communication, and use sufficiently appropriate terminology for a correct approach to the profession, which is also important for job interviews. D5 - LEARNING SKILLS At the end of the course, the student should be able to: -consult and understand scientific texts, bibliographic updates, and regulations in order to apply them in all professional contexts, -possess a sufficiently broad mastery of the subject to ensure an acceptable foundation for continuing professional development through lifelong learning. |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Teaching methods | The course is organized as follows: -Classroom lectures covering all course topics; -Written exercises in the classroom. Students will be divided into groups for the exercises. |
| Other information | |
| Learning verification modality | The methods of learning assessment are provided on the webpage https://medvet.unipg.it/files/lm-42/msyllabus_mv_27082024.pdf, for the course "GP005363 - ANIMAL BIOLOGY", Professor Stefano Capomaccio. |
| Extended program | THEORETICAL LECTURES Hereditary material: fundamental experiments. DNA, structure. Mutation, genes, alleles, and loci. Organization and transmission of hereditary material. Meiosis and Mitosis. Animal karyotypes. Mendel's experiments: Laws and exceptions. Linkage. Two-point test. Inheritance and sex. PRACTICAL LECTURES Exercises on genetics problems. |
| Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile |
ZOOLOGY
| Code | GP005395 |
|---|---|
| CFU | 2 |
| Teacher | Silvana Piersanti |
| Teachers |
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| Hours |
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| Learning activities | Base |
| Area | Discipline biologiche e genetiche vegetali ed animali |
| Academic discipline | BIO/05 |
| Type of study-unit | Obbligatorio (Required) |
| Language of instruction | Italian |
| Contents | The organizational plans and variety of animals (acoelomates, pseudocoelomates, coelomates, radiates, and bilaterians, Protostomes and Deuterostomes, etc.). Functionality and complexity of body plans. Interaction between animals and the environment. Basic concepts of classification, biological evolution, and biodiversity. Reproductive strategies. Particular attention dedicated to Vertebrate Chordates. Use of the microscope. Observation and recognition of animal specimens. |
| Reference texts | FONDAMENTI DI ZOOLOGIA 2/ed + DIVERSITÀ ANIMALE 4/ed. Cleveland P. Hickman et al. Ed. Mcgraw-Hill |
| Educational objectives | The course represents the first approach to zoology. The main objective of the course is to provide students with basic knowledge of the biology, systematics, and phylogeny of the main animal phyla. D1 - KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING The student must: understand the biology, systematics, and phylogeny of the main animal phyla, understand the organization of body plans, functional adaptations, and environmental interactions of the main animal groups, with particular attention to vertebrate chordates. D2 - APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING By the end of the course, the student must: systematically categorize the main animal phyla, identify the body plan of the main animal groups, understand the biological characteristics of the main animal phyla, with particular attention to vertebrate chordates. D3 - AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT By the end of the course, the student should be able to: recognize animal specimens belonging to the main animal phyla. D4 - COMMUNICATION SKILLS By the end of the course, the student should be able to: organize, prepare, and present the main characteristics of an animal phylum with their own evaluations supported by appropriate arguments. D5 - LEARNING SKILLS By the end of the course, the student should be able to: consult and understand scientific texts, including innovative ones, possess a sufficiently broad mastery of the subject to ensure an acceptable basis for continuing professional development. |
| Prerequisites | No prior knowledge of zoology is required; basic biology skills are required. |
| Teaching methods | Theoretical lessons and practical training |
| Learning verification modality | The exam includes a written test and an oral test for the program carried out in the Mendelian Genetics module and an interview for the program carried out in the Zoology module. The oral test, in both cases, is aimed at ascertaining the level of knowledge and ability achieved by the student on the theoretical and methodological contents introduced in the program, through two or three questions. For the program carried out in Mendelian Genetics, the written test, carried out in the form of a multiple choice test, consists of 15 questions with a score of +2 for correct answer, -1 wrong answer, 0 answer not given. Sufficiency gives access to the oral test where candidates can confirm their written grade or improve by positively evaluating vocabulary, analysis and connection skills. For the Zoology module the oral exam will be evaluated on the basis of the following elements: argumentative and executive rigor – from 2 to 6 points, completeness – from 2 to 6 points, language properties – from 2 to 6 points, depth of analysis – from 2 to 6 points, connection capacity – 2 to 6 points. The final grade is the weighted average of the two modules, weighted by the number of credits. For information on support services for students with disabilities and/or DSA visit the page http://www.unipg.it/disabilita-e-dsa |
| Extended program | Biological Evolution: fundamental principles, neo-Darwinism, natural selection, genetic variability, environmental adaptation, and coevolution. Biodiversity: concept of biodiversity, animal biodiversity and its importance, the protection of biodiversity, and its significance. Organizational Models of Animals: phyla and bauplan, levels of organization (unicellular, colonial, tissue), radial and bilateral symmetry, cephalization, the coelom, acoelomate, pseudocoelomate, eucoelomate animals, protostomes and deuterostomes, segmentation. Vital Functions of Animals: integument, functions, types of integument in invertebrates and vertebrates, colorations, skeletal systems, hydrostatic skeleton, rigid skeleton, animal movement, amoeboid, ciliary, and flagellar movement, pedal locomotion, compass movement, with tube feet, with limbs, nutrition, types of nutrition, intracellular and extracellular digestion, absorption, evolution of the digestive system, circulation, closed and open circulatory systems, evolution of the circulatory system in vertebrates, respiration in aquatic and subaerial environments, tracheal system in insects, osmoregulation in aquatic environments, excretion in aquatic and subaerial environments, evolution of the excretory system, nervous system, major evolutionary trends, asexual and sexual reproduction, gametes, sexual dimorphism, sex determination, hermaphroditism, parthenogenesis, types of fertilization. Porifera: organizational models, metabolism, choanocytes, spicules, reproduction, gemmules. Cnidarians: morphological diversification of polyp and medusa forms, nematocysts, metabolism, reproduction, class Anthozoa, class Scyphozoa, class Cubozoa, class Hydrozoa, Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) extracted from jellyfish. Platyhelminthes: metabolism, reproduction, free-living forms (class Turbellaria) and parasitic forms, class Trematoda, class Cestoda. Aschelminthes: pseudocoelom, eutely, cryptobiosis, nematodes, characteristics, free-living and parasitic forms. Annelids: the acquisition of a true coelom, Polychaetes, Oligochaetes, Hirudinea, general characteristics. Mollusks: general characteristics, shell structure, class Gastropoda, class Bivalvia, class Cephalopoda. Arthropods: general characteristics, class Insecta, the great evolutionary success of insects, insects and chemical communication, insect societies, insects and humans, pollinators, pest control (biological control, genetic manipulations, sterile insect technique (SIT) and genetically modified organisms, BT plants), insects commercially exploited by humans. Echinoderms: general characteristics. Chordates: subphylum Urochordata, subphylum Cephalochordata, subphylum Vertebrata: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals. Practical Lessons: whole specimens of various animal phyla will be observed, an optical microscope and stereomicroscope will be used for the observation of slide preparations and whole samples of invertebrates, a dichotomous key will be used for the identification of a zoological specimen, and theoretical and practical skills related to the use of the optical microscope will be provided. |
| Obiettivi Agenda 2030 per lo sviluppo sostenibile | animal life on land and in water |