| Department of Plant Biology | |||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | |||||||||||
| Duration | 1 semester | ||||||||||
| Credits | 6 (ECTS) | ||||||||||
| Course Level | MSc | ||||||||||
| Examination | written examination Aid allowed Description of Examination: 13-point scale, internal examiner Dates of Exam: | ||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Lectures: 1 course modul per week | ||||||||||
| Block Placement | E5, fall | ||||||||||
| Teaching Language | English may be conducted in Danish | ||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | 057518 Plant Biology | ||||||||||
| Course Objectives | |||||||||||
| The aim of the course is to give the participants a thorough knowledge of important research topics within plant science. The course will also serve to illustrate how new key technologies within plant biochemistry and molecular biology are used to provide new coherent knowledge of complex biological systems which previously were difficult to understand. The use of the new knowledge in designing the crop plants of the future using classical breeding or genetic engineering will be discussed | |||||||||||
| Course Contents | |||||||||||
| The series of lectures will serve to illustrate four central themes within plant biochemistry: * The ability of plants to carry out photosynthesis and thus to use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as their sole carbon source. * The ability of plants to use nitrate and simple carbon metabolites for the production of a large number of different organic compounds including amino acids that are essential for human and animals and an innumerable number of natural products. * The ability of plants to synthesize a strong cell wall enabling plants to stand without sceleton and muscles. The plant cell wall constitutes an important barrier towards pathogens on the same time as it permits transport of nutrients from cell to cell. * The ability of plants to adjust to a wide range of growth conditions and to environmental stresses. This is important because plants are sessile organisms that can not escape en unfavourable situation by running away. More specific topics of the lectures are: Photosynthesis and its regulation; Photoinhibition; Regulation of carbohydrate metabolism; In vivo production of functionally modified starches in plants; Plant phosphate metabolism and mycorrhiza; Phosphate sensing; Structure and function of the biopolymers of the plant cell wall; Plant cell wall elongation; The self-processing plant: How to improve the digestibility of grasses; The synthesis and function of plant surface waxes; Nitrogen metabolism; Engineering essential amino acid synthesis in plants; Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in plants; The formation and function of natural products and their importance in plant-insect interactions; The multigene cytochrome P450 family; Engineering of natural product synthesis; Plant transformation of monocots and dicots; Bioimaging of subcellular processes. | |||||||||||
| Teaching And Learning Methods | |||||||||||
| All lectures are given by scientists who possess direct experimental research experience within the topic. The lecturers are recruited from KVL as well as from other Danish Universities, Sector Research Institutes and major Danish Industries. The idea of the course is that all lectures develop into an active dialogue with the students. | |||||||||||
| Course Litterature | |||||||||||
| B.B. Buchanan. W. Gruissem & R.L. Jones. 2000. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants. American Society of Plant Physiologist, Rockville, Maryland. The textbook reading is supported by a selected set of primary papers and review articles. | |||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||
| Birger Lindberg Møller, blm@life.ku.dk, Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology/Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Phone: 35333352 | |||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||
| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||
| Course Scope | |||||||||||
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