This project was prepared as part of a BioQUEST faculty development workshop entitled ASM/BioQUEST Bioinformatics Institute at American Society for Microbiology in March 2006. The BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium is committed to the reform of undergraduate biology instruction through an emphasis on engaging students in realistic scientific practices. This approach is sometimes characterized as an inquiry driven approach and is captured in BioQUEST's three P's (problem-posing, problem-solving, and peer-persuasion). As part of this workshop groups of faculty were encouraged to initiate innovative curricular projects. We are sharing these works in progress in the hope that they will stimulate further exploration, collaboration and development. Please see the following links for additional information:

Upcoming events               BEDROCK Problem Spaces

 
Using Bioinformatics to Investigate Evolution, Phylogeny, and Virulence in the Human Pathogen Clostridium difficile (with Brad Goodner, institute presenter, as a group member)
  
 
Authors          Audiences          Overview           Materials          Resources           Future Directions
  

 


Authors

Kim Finer
Kent State University
 
 
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Possible Audiences:

Allied health students in 1st & 2nd year courses, as well as along with biology/molecular biology students in 3rd year courses  

 
 


Brief Overview:

Goals of the problem space: (1) Emphasize the connection between genomics and the pathogen’s clinical significance. (2)(Re)Introduce students to various evolutionary concepts/relationships that play a role in disease and disease processes. (3) Familiarize students with the variety and power of various bioinformatics tools.  

 
 
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Project Materials:

Powerpoint presentation  

 
 


Resources and References:

Resources: Data Sets Bioinformatic tools References: Comparative analysis of Clostridium difficile clinical isolates belonging to different genetic lineages and time periods. Spigaglia, P. Mastrantonio, P., 2006 Multilocus sequence analysis and comparative evolution of virulence-associated genes and housekeeping genes of Clostridium difficile. Lemee, L, Bourgeois I, Ruffin, E, Collignon, A., Lemeland, JF., Pons, JL. 2005.  

 
 
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Future Directions:

We are currently assembling our data sets.  

 
 


Attachments


- CdifSlides21.ppt  

 
 
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