Bioremediation

A.A. 2025/2026
15
Crediti massimi
168
Ore totali
SSD
AGR/13 AGR/16 CHIM/06
Lingua
Inglese
Obiettivi formativi
The course aims to provide the students with the elements to know, understand, measure and remediate, using plants and microorganisms, organic and inorganic contamination in different environmental compartments (water, air, soil, plants).
The course is organised as an interdisciplinary laboratory, in which professors from different disciplines (environmental chemistry, environmental microbiology, and plant physiology) guide students in carrying out a project based on a real case study by integrating lectures, fieldwork, laboratory work, and data analysis.
This laboratory gives students the possibility, while learning specific concepts and skills related to bioremediation, to acquire transversal skills, such as working in a group, discussing results, communicating concepts, and critically evaluating and using literature sources.
Risultati apprendimento attesi
At the end of the course, the student should:
· know and understand the causes of environmental contamination;
· know, understand and use the main methods to determine the distribution of organic and inorganic contaminations in different environmental compartments (water, air, soil, plants);
· know, understand and utilize analytical techniques for environmental monitoring;
· know and understand the role of plants and microorganisms in environmental processes and bioremediation, and the main bioremediation techniques;
· be able to propose a bioremediation plan;
· be able to apply statistical analysis of environmental data.
· be able to frame the contamination cases in terms of the environmental legislation in force.
Students will acquire practical skills in the use of analytical instruments for the quantification of: organic and inorganic compounds, microflora connected to environmental processes, physiological state of plants.
Students will also be able to independently evaluate methods to monitor and analyse contamination problems, and to evaluate the remediation interventions needed.
They will also be able to independently find and evaluate literature sources about bioremediation to update their knowledge.
Students will develop soft skills such as public speech, teamwork, and critical discussion of scientific data.
The skills acquired in environmental remediation, waste treatment and material recovery technologies will allow students to interact with professionals working in the environmental restoration sector.
The students will come into contact with external stakeholders thanks to the organization of seminars with environmental management experts, and they will develop communication skills thanks to the application of flipped learning methods.
Corso singolo

Questo insegnamento può essere seguito come corso singolo.

Programma e organizzazione didattica

Edizione unica

Responsabile
Periodo
Primo semestre

Prerequisiti
Basic knowledge of chemistry and biology.
Modalità di verifica dell’apprendimento e criteri di valutazione
Assessment will be performed by:
Oral or written exam, individual
Flipped learning seminar, individual
Project report, written in team work
Project presentation, oral

The final score is expressed in thirtieths; minimum 18/30 - maximum 30/30 cum laude.
Evaluation criteria: i) knowledge of the basic notions provided during lectures assessed by an individual exam (50% of final score); ii) ability to communicate the information present in the scientific literature assessed by flipped learning seminar (10% of final score); iii) ability to report the work carried out in team assessed by a project report (25% of final score); iv) ability to discuss the experimental results obtained assessed by an oral presentation (15% of final score).

Project report is prepared by the student's team. It comprises the presentation of a written report and of an oral discussion of the environmental bioremediation project carried out during the laboratory course.

Students with SLD or disability certifications are kindly requested to contact the teacher at least 15 days before the date of the exam session to agree on individual exam requirements. In the email please make sure to add in cc the competent offices: [email protected] (for students with SLD) o [email protected] (for students with disability).
Environmental microbiology and phytoremediation
Programma
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
1- Frontal lectures (3 CFU):
-Course overview. Levering basic microbiology knowledge Notes on environmental legislation. Microbiological sampling. Characterization and monitoring of microbial communities in soil and water: cell count methods on specific pollutants, enrichment cultures, microcosms. Environmental genomics: polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative Real Time PCR, clone libraries, Sanger sequencing, Illumina sequencing. (6 hours)
-Biodegradation of organic pollutants: monoaromatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), aliphatic compounds. Reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated solvents in groundwater. Bacterial resistance and metabolism of heavy metals and Arsenic. Microbial life in extreme environments: the acid mine drainage. (8 hours)
-Bioremediation approaches of contaminated soil and water. Real-cases of biorestoration interventions. Rhizosphere and endosphere microbiology: plant growth promoting bacteria useful in phytoremediation processes (rhizo-degradation, metal translocation). Microbial electrochemical systems: electroactive bacteria, microbial fuel cells. Seminars held by private companies involved in bioremediation activities. (6 hours)
-Flipped learning classes. Students delve deeper into a topic and present it to the class by an oral presentation (4 hours).

3- Practical activities (2 CFU):
-Educational trips: overview of the contaminated site under investigation and environmental contest, microbiological sampling, registration and conservation of samples. (8 hours)
-Microbiology laboratory: Safety rules in microbiology laboratories. Preparation and conservation of samples for microbiological and molecular analysis. Total aerobic, anaerobic bacterial plate count, MPN count of pollutant degrading bacteria. Phenotypic characterization of bacterial isolates: resistance to heavy metals and arsenic, mineralization of organic pollutants, plant growth promotion (siderophores, IAA, EPS, phosphate solubilisation, ACC deaminase, mobility). DNA extraction from environmental samples. Preparation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR (qPCR): 16S rRNA and functional genes. Electrophoresis run on agarose gel. (20 hours)
-Classroom exercises: Scientific literature search. Team working. Preparation of scientific reports. Bioinformatic laboratories. Calculations and statistical data processing. Experimental data analysis and discussion. (4 hours)

PHYTOREMEDIATION
Frontal lectures (2.75 CFU):
1. Course overview, plant physiology recap. (4 hours)
2. Introduction to Phytoremediation, advantages and limitations, types and processes. Natural hyperaccumulator plants for metals and their limitations. (2 hours)
3. Phytoremediation of organic pollutants: chlorinated solvents and/or pesticides, etc. Toxicity of organic pollutants and environmental impact; plant processes (physiological and biochemical mechanisms) involved in phytoremediation of various organic pollutants. (2 hours)
4. Phytoremediation of Inorganic pollutants, i.e., heavy metals, metalloids, etc. Toxicity of inorganic pollutants and environmental impact; plant processes (physiological and biochemical mechanisms) involved in phytoremediation of various Organic pollutants. (2 hours)
5. Case studies: discussion and an overview. (2 hours)
6. Phytoremediation strategies: i.e., site assessment, plant species for phytoremediation, soil amendments, etc. (2 hours)
7. Phytomining: using plants to mine precious metals like gold and silver and stabilize abandoned gold mine sites. (2 hours)
8. Metabolomics techniques for studying plant stress: from sample extraction to data analysis. (8 hours)
Practical activities (2 CFU):
- Educational trip: overview of the contaminated site under investigation and environmental contest, soil, water and plant sampling, registration and conservation of samples. (0.25 CFU)
- Phytoremediation laboratory: 1) Plant growth and treatment; 2) Monitoring of Chlorophyll a fluorescence and other physiological parameters; 3) Metabolome extraction and derivatization; 4) GC-MS-driven metabolomic analysis. (1.375 CFU)
- Bioinformatic laboratories and team working: scientific literature search and preparation of scientific reports also by using AI chatbot tools. Calculations and statistical data processing. Experimental data analysis and discussion. (0.25 CFU)
-Seminars: seminars are held by scientists working on phytoremediation. (0.125 CFU)
Metodi didattici
Attending students:
The course offers multiple teaching approaches:
- Frontal lectures
- Flipped learning classes
- Seminars
- Microbiology and phytoremediation practical activities
- Educational trips
- Classroom exercises

NOT attending students:
- Independent study of the topics covered in frontal lessons and practical laboratories
- Flipped learning on topics related to real cases of contamination and bioremediation approaches chosen in accordance with the professors via Microsoft Teams
- Classroom exercises via Microsoft Teams
- Seminars via Microsoft Teams or recorded.
At the beginning of the course, NOT attending students MUST fix an appointment with Prof. Lucia Cavalca (Environmental Microbiology) and Prof. Fabrizio Araniti (Phytoremediation) to assess independent study and practical activities.

Attendance is encouraged, but not compulsory.
Materiale di riferimento
- Slides of lectures on the MyAriel site of the course
- Scientific papers and review articles uploaded on the MyAriel site of the course and provided by professors
- Practical classes notes
- Links to useful online resources.

TEXT BOOKS
Some of the information given during the course can be found in the following textbooks available in the UNIMI Library link https://unimi.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=39UMI_INST:VU1&lang=en.

Environmental Microbiology:
- M.T. Madigan, J.M. Martinko, K.S. Bender, D.H. Buckley, D.A. Stahl. Brock - Biology of microorganisms, 2016, Ed. Pearson.
- M.T. Madigan, J.M. Martinko, K.S. Bender, D.H. Buckley, D.A. Stahl. Brock - Biologia dei Microrganismi, 2022, Ed. Pearson.
- B. Biavati e C. Sorlini. Microbiologia Agroambientale, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana.
- B. Biavati e C. Sorlini. Microbiologia Generale e Agraria, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana.

Phytoremediation:
Some of the information given during the course can be found in the following textbooks available in the UNIMI Library link https://unimi.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=39UMI_INST:VU1&lang=en.
1) Lee Newman, Abid Ali Ansari, Sarvajeet Singh Gill, M. Naeem, Ritu Gill - Phytoremediation Management of Environmental Contaminants, Volume 7
ISBN : 3-031-17988-9
ISBN : 9783031179877
2) Norman Terry, Gary S. Banuelos - Phytoremediation of Contaminated Soil and Water
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9780367803148
ISBN: 9780367803148
3) Cuypers, Ann, editor.; Vangronsveld, Jaco, editor. - Phytoremediation - ISBN: 978-0-12-802853-7
4) Steven C. McCutcheon, Jerald L. Schnoor - Phytoremediation: Transformation and Control of Contaminants
ISBN:9780471273042
DOI:10.1002/047127304X
Environmental chemistry
Programma
Frontal lessons (3 CFU):
1. Introduction to Analytical Chemistry (8 hours):
· Sampling: planning of sampling depending on the environmental sector and the aims of the investigation. Sample collection methods, storage and average life of the samples.
· Units of measurement, equivalences used in the environmental field.
· Heavy metals: chemistry and notes on toxicology.
2. Contaminants in the Environment, Hydrocarbons (8 hours):
· Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Dioxins.
· Synthetic Polymers and Pesticides.
· Categories of Hydrocarbons.
· Benzene and Derivatives.
3. Mass spectrometry (4 hours):
· Theory, instrumentation, applicability. Quadrupole and ICP-MS. Chromatography: theory of chromatographic separation, use of GC and HPLC in the environmental field.
4. Spectroscopic methods of analysis (4 hours):
· Infrared (IR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR): Theory, instrumentation, applicability.

Practical activities (2 CFU):
1. Educational trip: Sampling at the study site. (0.25 CFU)
2. Safety in the Chemistry Laboratory. Sample treatment, extraction and analysis by HPLC and GC-MS of organic pollutants. Mineralization of samples and analysis via ICP-MS for the determination of heavy metals and other elements of environmental interest. Analysis of the results (1.5 CFU).
3. Team working: Data analysis and discussion. Drafting of the final report. (0.25 CFU)
Metodi didattici
Attending students:
The course offers multiple teaching approaches:
- Frontal lectures
- Flipped learning classes
- Chemistry laboratory
- Educational trips
- Classroom exercises

NOT attending students:
- Independent study of the topics covered in frontal lessons and practical laboratories
- Flipped learning on topics related to real cases of contamination and bioremediation approaches chosen in accordance with the professors via Microsoft Teams
- Classroom exercises via Microsoft Teams
- Seminars via Microsoft Teams or recorded.
At the beginning of the course, NOT attending students MUST fix an appointment with Prof. Michail Christodoulou to assess independent study and practical activities.

Attendance is encouraged, but not compulsory.
Materiale di riferimento
Some of the information given during the course can be found in the following textbooks available in the UNIMI Library link https://unimi.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=39UMI_INST:VU1&lang=en.
· Introduction to Organic Chemistry of Brown and Poon
· Essential Organic Chemistry of Bruice
· Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry of Scoog and West
· Spectroscopic methods in organic chemistry of Hesse, Meier and Zeeh.
· All the topics will be also covered from research and review articles published in peer-reviewed journals and/or book chapters. The professor will provide the material.
Moduli o unità didattiche
Environmental chemistry
CHIM/06 - CHIMICA ORGANICA - CFU: 5
Attivita' di campo: 4 ore
Esercitazioni: 6 ore
Laboratori: 22 ore
Lezioni: 24 ore

Environmental microbiology and phytoremediation
AGR/13 - CHIMICA AGRARIA - CFU: 5
AGR/16 - MICROBIOLOGIA AGRARIA - CFU: 5
Attivita' di campo: 8 ore
Esercitazioni: 12 ore
Laboratori: 44 ore
Lezioni: 48 ore

Docente/i
Ricevimento:
Tutti i giorni previo appuntamento telefonico o con e-mail
Ufficio (edificio 21090) presso Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali - Produzione, Territorio, Agroenergia
Ricevimento:
Previo appuntamento
DEFENS-Microbiologia Ambientale, ufficio 3021, terzo piano, via Mangiagalli 25