BIO3082 - Plant Responses to the Environment

• Unit information
• General Unit Information & Objectives
• Specific Unit Information

General Unit Information

This unit deals the ways in which plants respond to their environment. Thus, lectures cover plant development and how that is controlled by environmental signals and the way that plant growth and productivity respond to environmental factors such as light and temperature, or to stresses like drought and salinisation.

The effects of global climate change on plants and the interactions plants have with pathogens, or with other biota such as mycorhizae, are also considered.

Emphasis throughout the subject is placed on examining topics at a variety of levels from molecular changes in gene expression to effects on communities.

Manipulation of plant performance by means of genetic engineering and herbicide application, together with the ethical issues associated with these rapidly advancing and exciting developments in agricultural biotechnology, are also discussed.

Objectives

On completion of this unit, students will

• understand the basic processes governing the ways in which plants respond to their environment, from alterations in patterns of gene expression, through differences in metabolic activities to changes in morphology.
• have an understanding of the mechanisms by which plants cope with specific stresses in their environments, including drought, salinisation, extreme temperatures and global climate change.
• have developed a critical, analytical approach to scientific research
• have developed skills in writing scientific reports

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Specific Unit Information

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