Secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds

The course shall give general understanding of the concepts in secondary metabolites research in plants and other phototrophic organisms. It will give most essential theory behind the major methods in bioprospecting workflow and secondary metabolites application. The laboratory exercises will give the necessary tool-box for those who want to pursue investigations in the field of Secondary Metabolites and Bioactive Compounds.

The course is built of three blocks: Lectures, laboratory exercises and home assignment with presentation.

Lectures will cover the following topics:

• Secondary metabolites. Characteristics, chemical and functional diversity, biosynthesis and regulation of gene expression. The theory will cover secondary metabolites produced by both plants and algae, as well as prokaryotic phototrophs.
• Principles and most commonly used methods for extraction. Chromatography: separation and isolation of secondary metabolites.
• Analytical chemistry. A theoretical introduction to the methods and principles in identification and chemical structure elucidation of secondary metabolites. The techniques covered in this block are mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
• Post MS analyses: dereplication of secondary metabolites, use of databases and the molecular networking.
• Functional analyses of the secondary metabolites: various types of bioactivity testing, bioactivity screening strategies and workflows, application of the test results.

Laboratory exercises will be run on defined case studies and will include the following:

• Culturing cyanobacteria
• Extraction of secondary metabolites from the biomass and fractionation of obtained extracts.
• Bioactivity tests: antimicrobial, enzyme inhibition assays.
• Practical exercise on Identification of bioactive compounds using MS spectrometry and the SM databases.

Home assignment and presentation. The students will have to make a study and give a presentation on a topic of choice related to the course content.

Learning outcome

The candidates will gain broad knowledge on;

• Diversity and classes of secondary metabolites from plant and other phototrophic organisms
• Biological targets and modes of actions of Secondary metabolites
• Methods in chromatography and mass spectrometry
• Bioassays mathods targeting bacteria, fungi, viruses, cancer cells, viruses and enzymes

The candidates will get experience in:

• Processing of material for extraction, make relevant choice for extraction methods
• HPLC amd Mass Spectrometry analyses
• Post MS processing and analyses of the samples.
• Conduct biossays for bioactive componds discovery

Course dates

TBD

Admission deadline

UiT students must register through studentweb before September 1st.

Non-UiT students must request guest status from UiT. Apply betwee July 20th and August 9th). Instructions can be found here.

Admission requirements

Who can apply as a singular course student:

• PhD student enrolled at another institution than UiT. PhD students must upload a document from their university stating that there are registered PhD students. This group of applicants does not have to prove English proficiency and are exempt from semester fee.
• Holders of a master´s degree of five years or 3+2 years (or equivalent) may be admitted. These applicants must upload a Master´s Diploma with Diploma Supplement / English translation of the diploma. Applicants from listed countries must document proficiency in English. To find out if this applies to you, see the following list: Proficiency in English must be documented – list of countries. For more information on accepted English proficiency tests and scores, as well as exemptions from the English proficiency tests, please see the following document: Proficiency in english – PhD level studies

Local admission, application code 9301 – Singular courses at PhD level.

Maximum 12 students. If more than 12 applicants, priority will be given as follows:

• Participants who are members of the research school Photosyntech
• Participants admitted to the PhD programme at UiT
• Participants in the Associate Professor programme (Førstelektorprogrammet)
• PhD candidates from other universities
• People with a minimum of a Masters degree (or equivalent), who have not been admitted to a PhD programme

Language

English.

Coursework requirements

To take an examination, the student must have passed the following coursework requirements:

Participation in lab exercises			Approved – not approved
Lab report			Approved – not approved

Examination

Examination:	Weighting:	Duration:	Grade scale:
Off campus exam	5/10	1 Weeks	Passed / Not Passed
Oral exam	5/10	15 Minutes	Passed / Not Passed