Environmental Systems and Anthropic Impact

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
Plant-environment interactions: i) general knowledge about anthropological source of pollution (0.5 CFU); ii) main ways related to the uptake and translocation of pollutants into the plant (1 CFU).
Plant response to organic and Inorganic Pollutants: i) uptake, ii) metabolism, iii) toxicity and iv) detoxification processes. Mineral nutrition and nutrient use efficiency as a tool to reduce fertilizer-derived pollution. (2 CFU).
Techniques to study the impact of pollution on plant metabolism and basic knowledge about metabolomic approaches and data analysis (1CFU practical lessons).
Plants as bioindicators of environmental pollution: i) Main characteristics of a bioindicator, ii) Lower plants and higher plants as pollution bioindicators (0.5 CFU).

MICROBIAL ECOSYSTEMS
FRONTAL LECTURES:
Introduction to microbial ecosystems on Earth in the Anthropocene era (1hour).
Microbial activities and biodiversity in agricultural, forest and urban soils (4 hours). Microorganisms and water quality: civil and industrial wastewater treatment plants (2 hours).
Ecosystem services of microorganisms: Bacteria and fungi in sustainable agronomic practices to improve and preserve soil fertility and water quality (3 hours). Biological nitrogen fixation (2 hours). Mycorrhizas (2 hours). Carbon farming strategy (2 hours). Use of bioinoculants for improving plant growth (3 hours). Microorganisms for restoration of soil salinity, drought and compaction (2 hours). Improving microbial activities to restore soil fertility after forest fires (1 hour).
Restoration of environmental quality: bioremediation of soil and water after oil spillages (3 hours). Bacterial resistance to heavy metals (2 hours). Case studies of microbial-assisted phytoremediation (3 hours).
Alteration of microbial reactions in climate change scenarios and GHG emissions (1 hour).
The "One Health" perspective: environmental and human well-being (1 hour).

PRACTICAL CLASSES:
Educational outing (4 h, field activity).
Laboratory on methods in environmental microbiology (8 h of practical classes).
Scientific literature reading and comprehension in the AI era (2 h, team-based learning/living lab).
Public speech and science communication (1 h, practical).
The real world: enterprises and public bodies involved in environmental management (1 h, seminar).

Definitions of primary and secondary pollutants, macro- and micro-pollutants.
Environmental compartments: water, soil, air. Water compartment: water chemistry, alkalinity and acidity, oxidation reactions, reduction, complexation and chelation (0.5 CFU). The atmosphere: physical characteristics, chemical and photochemical reactions. Soil compartments and chemical aspects (0.5 CFU).
Main classes of pollutants. Organic pollutants in water and soil compartments: hydrocarbons, polymers, pesticides, oils and lubricants. Polychlorophenols and their derivatives (polychlorobiphenyls, furans and dioxins). Surfactants. Heavy metals. (1 CFU).
Organic pollutants of the atmosphere: aliphatic hydrocarbons and simple and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. (0.5 CFU). Transformations and fate of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere: photochemical smog. Oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen derivatives as products of photochemical combustion and oxidation reactions: acid rain . Ozone hole. Reactions of halogenated compounds with ozone (0.5 CFU).
Degradation processes of plant protection products/pollutants in the environment. Persistence, solubility, adsorption, transport, volatilization. Distribution of organic compounds in environmental compartments. Methods for predicting the distribution of pesticides in the environment. Toxicology chemistry (1 CFU).
In-depth study of a subject: scientific literature reading and comprehension Seminars (1 CFU, practical)