Program: Biological Sciences Major, BS - Microbiology Concentration - University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Mar 28, 2025

2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

The biological sciences major offers concentrations in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology; ecology and evolutionary biology; and microbiology.

Continuing, returning, and transfer students must meet progression requirements before declaring a major in biological sciences.

To declare biological sciences as a major, students must have an overall GPA of 2.0, be in good academic standing and have completed CHEM 122 *-CHEM 123 * and CHEM 132 * and CHEM 133 *, and BIOL 150 * or BIOL 113 * with a minimum grade of C. Although completion of either BIOL 113 *-BIOL 114 *-BIOL 115 * or BIOL 150 *-BIOL 160 *-BIOL 159 * are permissible as prerequisites to the major, the faculty encourage students to take BIOL 150 *-BIOL 160 *-BIOL 159 *, particularly if they anticipate a career in a health profession.

College Requirements

Arts and Sciences

Prerequisites

A minimum grade of C must be earned in all prerequisites.

Microbiology Concentration

The concentration consists of 32 hours.

I. Complete:

BCMB 401 - Biochemistry I 4 Credit Hours
CHEM 260 - Foundations of Organic Chemistry 3 Credit Hours
CHEM 269 - Foundations of Organic Chemistry Laboratory 1 Credit Hours
CHEM 359 - In-depth Organic Chemistry Laboratory 1 Credit Hours
CHEM 360 - In-depth Organic Chemistry 3 Credit Hours
MICR 321 - Advanced Microbiology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 329 - Advanced Microbiology Laboratory 2 Credit Hours

II. Upper-Division Courses

A. Select 9 hours:

MICR 330 - Immunology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 410 - Microbial Physiology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 411 - Microbial Genetics 3 Credit Hours
MICR 420 - Microbial Pathogenesis 3 Credit Hours
MICR 431 - Advanced Immunology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 440 - Virology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 470 - Microbial Ecology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 480 - Genomics and Bioinformatics 3 Credit Hours

B. Select 6 additional hours:

BCMB 311 - Advanced Cellular Biology 3 Credit Hours
BCMB 321 - Introductory Plant Physiology 3 Credit Hours
BCMB 330 - Developmental Biology 3 Credit Hours
BCMB 402 - Biochemistry II 4 Credit Hours
BCMB 412 - Molecular Biology and Genomics 4 Credit Hours
BCMB 419 - Cellular and Comparative Biochemistry Laboratory 3 Credit Hours *
BCMB 420 - Advanced Topics in Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology 3 Credit Hours
BCMB 422 - Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 3 Credit Hours *
BCMB 440 - General Physiology 3 Credit Hours
BCMB 461 - Cancer Biology 3 Credit Hours or
MICR 461 - Cancer Biology 3 Credit Hours
CBE 475 - Applied Microbiology and Bioengineering 3 Credit Hours
EEB 403 - The Evolution of Cancer: An Integrative Approach 3 Credit Hours
EEB 404 - Ecosystem Ecology 3 Credit Hours
EEB 426 - Plant-Animal Interactions 3 Credit Hours
EEB 495 - Evolutionary Ecology 3 Credit Hours
EPP 313 - Introductory Plant Pathology 3 Credit Hours
EPP 410 - Diseases and Insects of Ornamental Plants 3 Credit Hours
EPP 411 - Forest Insects and Diseases 3 Credit Hours
ESS 454 - Environmental Soil Biology 3 Credit Hours
FDSC 429 - Food Microbiology Lab 2 Credit Hours
EEPS 461 - Organic Geochemistry 3 Credit Hours
MICR 305 - Global Emerging Infectious Diseases and One Health 3 Credit Hours
MICR 330 - Immunology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 333 - Astrobiology 3 Credit Hours *
MICR 401 - Undergraduate Research in Microbiology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 402 - Advanced Undergraduate Research in Microbiology 4 Credit Hours
MICR 410 - Microbial Physiology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 411 - Microbial Genetics 3 Credit Hours
MICR 420 - Microbial Pathogenesis 3 Credit Hours
MICR 421 - Food Microbiology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 429 - Medical Microbiology Laboratory 2 Credit Hours
MICR 440 - Virology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 459 - Introduction to Oceanography 3 Credit Hours
MICR 465 - Geomicrobiology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 470 - Microbial Ecology 3 Credit Hours
MICR 475 - Reproducible Data Analysis 3 Credit Hours
MICR 480 - Genomics and Bioinformatics 3 Credit Hours
MICR 493 - Independent Study 1-9 Credit Hours
MICR 495 - Senior Seminar: Perspectives in Microbiology 3 Credit Hours *
PLSC 331 - Calling BS: Interpretation and Reasoning Using Data in the Modern World 1 Credit Hours

C. Proficiencies (0 credit hours):

To support the department’s assessment efforts, students are required to complete a 0-credit course at the end of the student’s degree program.

MICR 499 - Microbiology Proficiency 0 Credit Hours

Note:

Three credit hours from the following courses, if not previously taken as a prerequisite course, may be substituted for a List B course:

BCMB 230 - Human Physiology 5 Credit Hours
BIOL 240 - General Genetics 4 Credit Hours
BIOL 260 - Ecology 2 Credit Hours
BIOL 280 - Evolution 3 Credit Hours
EEB 250 - Human Anatomy 3 Credit Hours and
EEB 251 - Human Anatomy Laboratory 1 Credit Hours

Honors Option – Microbiology Concentration

An honors option is offered to selected students who have completed the required 300-level microbiology courses. In addition to the requirements for the biological sciences major – microbiology concentration, an honors option requires:

A minimum GPA of 3.3 in microbiology concentration courses.
A minimum GPA of 3.25 for all UTK courses (this is a University requirement for an honors degree).
Completion of two semesters of independent research taken as MICR 401 and MICR 402 .
An honors thesis based on the independent research project undertaken during MICR 401 and MICR 402 .
Twelve hours of honors coursework which must include at least 6 hours of 400-level microbiology courses via honors-by-contract. Neither MICR 401 nor MICR 402 can be taken as honors-by-contract.

* Meets Volunteer Core Requirements .

College Requirements

Prerequisites

Complete:

Select one course:

Select one sequence:

or (a)

or (b)