Genetics

- Physical basis of heredity. Chromosomes, mitosis, meiosis and the biological cycles of eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Cell cycle. Introduction to DNA replication.
- Transmission of characters. Mendelian inheritance: segregation and independent assortment of characters. Multiple alleles. Statistical processing of Mendelian segregation. Analysis Mendelian inheritance in man: pedigrees. Blood groups and denial of paternity. Sex-linked inheritance. Genetic determination of sex.
- Chromosome theory of inheritance, linkage and recombination. Meiotic crossing-over. Mapping of genes in diploid organisms: map distance, interference. Mitotic crossing-over and mosaics.
- Function of the gene: one gene-one enzyme hypothesis. Interaction between genes. Complementation. Intragenic recombination.
- Genetics of microorganisms. Bacteria: mutants and their selection. Plasmids. Bacteriophages: virulent and temperate phages. Transfer of genetic material between bacteria by transformation, conjugation, and transduction.
- Structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genes.
- Introduction to transcription in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Translation, genetic code and its characteristics.
- Changes in the structure of the genome. Gene mutations: molecular basis of mutations and their frequency.
Reversion and suppression. Chromosomal mutations: deletions, duplications, inversions and translocations.
- Genomic mutations: euploidy and aneuploidy. Autopolyploidy and allopolyploidy.
- Introduction to DNA replication.
- Mutagenesis and principal mechanisms of DNA repair.
- Regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes: example of the lactose and tryptophan operons in Escherichia coli.
- Manipulation of the genetic material. Restriction endonucleases. Cloning vectors. Cloning of genes.
- Population Genetics. Genetic structure of populations. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Forces that change gene frequencies in populations: mutation, assortative mating, selection, migration and genetic drift.
- Epigenetics. Chromatin structure. Modifications of DNA and histones.
Esercitazioni
The course is completed with 16 hours of theoretical exercises, in which notions discussed in class will be applied and detailed, through the resolution of genetic problems.