SCIENZE BIOCHIMICHE APPLICATE ALLE BIOTECNOLOGIE AGRARIE M - Z

Module BIOCHIMICA GENERALE

Provide students with a solid knowledge of: structure, function and regulation of biological macromolecules preparatory to the second part of the course.

Frontal lessons with learning tests at the end of the lesson

In order to be able to understand and attend the course profitably, it is useful for the student to have a fair knowledge of the basic elements of general and inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and cellular biology, as well as the basic foundations of general physics.

According to the degree course regulations.

Presentation of the classes of biological molecules:
- Carbohydrates: monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides. Aldoses and ketoses, Fisher formulas and Haworth projection, cyclization, mutarotation, spatial conformation, O-glycosidic bond.
- Lipids: saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, PUFA, triglycerides, phospholipids, glycolipids, sphingolipids, cholesterol (and derivatives), waxes and terpenes
- Nucleotides and nucleic acids: Nucleotides, nitrogenous bases, DNA and RNA, DNA mutations and denaturation, methylation. Nucleotides as energy carriers, components of enzymatic binders and chemical messengers.
- Amino acids and proteins: classification of amino acids, structure, peptide bond, structure of proteins, examples of particular proteins (antibodies and hemoglobin).

1) D. Voet, J.G. Voet, Fondamenti di Biochimica, Ed. Zanichelli
2) Matthews, Van Holde et al., Biochimica, Ed. Piccin
3) Nelson, M.M.Cox, Principi di Biochimica di Lehninger, Ed. Zanichelli

4) Campbell & Farrell, Biochimica, EdiSES
5) Garrett e Grisham, Principi di Biochimica, Ed. Piccin

6) Tinti B., Chimica organica – Biochimica – Biotecnologie- 2020, ed. Piccin

7) David Sadava David M. Hillis H. Craig Heller May R. Berenbaum , From Biochemistry to Biotechnology- 2014 Zanichelli

During the course, verification tests will be offered to evaluate progress.

At the end of the course the exam will take place with an oral exam.

The following parameters will be taken into account for the attribution of the final grade:

Score 29-30 cum laude: the student has an IN-DEPTH knowledge of the subject, has excellent communication skills and masters the technical-scientific language.

Score 26-28: the student has a GOOD knowledge of the subject and explains the topics clearly using appropriate technical-scientific language;

Score 22-25: the student has a DISCRETE knowledge of the subject, even if limited to the main topics and explains the topics quite clearly with a reasonable command of language;

Score 18-21: the student has the MINIMUM knowledge of the subject and explains the topics clearly enough although the language skills are poorly developed;

Exam not passed: the student DOES NOT HAVE THE MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE required of the main contents of the course. The ability to use specific language is very poor or non-existent and he is not able to apply the acquired knowledge independently.

The oral exam focuses on all parts of the program in order to verify the student's complete preparation and maturity in managing connections on different biochemical aspects
Examples of questions can be:
- Talk about carbohydrates
- Difference between epimers and enantiomers
- What type of bond is the peptide bond