Plant Physiology (Biology 320) offered in spring 2006.
Class time: Tuesdays and Thursday: 9:30-10:50am.
Lab: Thursdays: 3-5:50pm.
Journal Club: Once a week during Thursday lecture
time.
Independent research projects during last half of semester.
Course Description
Biology 320, Plant Physiology is an upper level course in biology. Students who are enrolled in Plant Physiology should have taken BIOL 240, 260, 280 and at least CHEM 231, prior to enrolling in this course. A primary purpose of this course is to help you understand how plants function in response to different environmental factors The course format is based on lectures but includes discussion, problem solving and experimentation. Most lectures will include a Botanical Example of a LEcture Case History (BELCH), e.g. pictures of a species featured in lecture or a live demonstration. Questions and comments during lecture are always welcome. An important component of this course will be the design, experimentation and communication of independent research projects.
Seven reasons why you may want to take Plant Physiology as a Biology Major.
1.You will be given a chance to think laterally about how organisms other than animals function.
2. You will have a chance to perform hands-on investigative activities to understand how plants grow and develop.
3. You will learn several lab techniques that can be transferred into other systems. For example, your own greenhouse or garden or classroom in the future.
4 You will learn conceptual techniques in mathematical modeling and computational biology using STELLA software that can be transferred to other biological systems.
5. You may want to perform summer research in the SWARTHOUT lab over the summer.
6. You may want to perform summer research in a Plant Physiology related field at an REU site off campus.
7. You may find that plants are neat systems to work with and you may want to pursue graduate studies in Plant Biology at some excellent institutions such as the University of Wisconsin, University of Kansas, University of Cape Town, Duke University, University of Utah, Stanford University, University of Illinois, Indiana University, Purdue university. University of Massachussetts, Arizona State University, University of British Columbia, Washington University, Cornell University,Ohio State University, Michigan State University Plant Research Lab, and University of Berkeley
Click here to view all plant biology programs in North America: PLB & Bot Depts.
Global need for knowledge about Plant Physiology
Plants are incredible biological entities that are often taken for granted. People have made use of organic compounds that plants produce for a very long time. We grow plants all the time in order to use their products to build homes and to clothe our bodies; to provide a new edible and tasty dish or beverage for our dinner tables; to design new perfumes and soaps to make us smell and feel better; to prescribe new medicinal drugs to make us live longer; and to allow us to be intellectually creative in our search for renewable energy resources.
Leading plant scientists like Mary Clutter (NSF) and Chris Somerville (Carnegie Institution and Stanford University) have been advocating the equivocal importance of plant sciences with the biomedical field for a few decades now. The two powerful quotations below demonstrate the global need for knowledge about plant physiology.
"Over the past 25 years a major revolution has occurred in biology. Research advances, especially at the molecular level, have permitted exponential increases in our understanding of fundamental life processes. The leading edge of these advances has been in the biomedical disciplines. Human health-related areas have been the major beneficiaries. There is an increasing realization that other potential beneficiaries of the biological revolution are the agricultural and environmental disciplines. Research opportunities abound in the plant sciences that could make a major impact. Yet, recent reports indicate that plant science has not kept pace with the forefront of biological research. It is time to address this disparity". (Mary Clutter, NSF, letter to Frank Press, October 25, 1989)
"During the past 25 years, plant biologists have developed Arabidopsis into a very powerful tool for basic research. However, total federal funding for plant biology is less than 1% of the NIH budget. This ridiculous situation is not improved by having special interest groups within the plant biology community fighting for crumbs. I have long-believed that the heart of the problem is that plant biology is viewed as agriculture. Legislators view the big problem in agriculture as overproduction and do not see the point of further investments in basic research that might cause more overproduction. Additionally colleagues who work on crop species are likely to be first at the federal trough when the arguments are based on improving agriculture. I suggest that a more relevant social context for basic research in plant biology is energy. Although there is enough fossil fuel to meet our energy needs for three to four hundred years, there is broad consensus that continuing to burn fossil carbon will have unpleasant irreversible environmental consequences. World energy demand is approximately 11 TW. Approximately 100,000 TW arrives at the earth from the sun each year. Unfortunately, the energy density is too low to support large-scale use of photovoltaic cells. By contrast, recent studies by DOE indicate that plant biomass can make a significant contribution. However, the species that are suited for biomass production are undomesticated and have not been adapted for this purpose as yet. Basic research in plant biology could have a significant impact on the rate of progress toward a greater dependence on renewable sources of energy (Chris Somerville, Carnegie Institute and Stanford University).
Why do I teach Plant Physiology?
We need broadly trained biologists to implement scientific policies at the local, national and international levels. Any broadly trained biologists should know how different organisms function.The course is designed to allow you to learn how plants function. You will be challenged to think critically about biochemical mechanisms and about the scientific literature.
Three
modules will be implemented:
1. How do plants grow and
develop? What roles do water and nutrients play?
A. Learn to measure photosynthesis, water status and nutrient status in plants.
2. How do plants respond to chemical signals during plant growth and development?
A. Learn how to determine which chemical hormones are responsible for bringing about a growth or developmental response in plants.
B. Learn how to
grow plants hydroponically and through in
vitro propagation using tissue culture
techniques.
3. How do plant chemical
compounds impact other biological systems?
A. Learn to extract chemical defense compounds in plants.
Think about how we can measure its impact on other biological systems.
B. Learn more about the medicinal uses of plants
C. Learn more about plants as renewable sources of energy.
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