Unit PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Course
Biological sciences
Study-unit Code
55656908
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Francesca De Marchis
Teachers
  • Francesca De Marchis
Hours
  • 56 ore - Francesca De Marchis
CFU
8
Course Regulation
Coorte 2020
Offered
2022/23
Learning activities
Caratterizzante
Area
Discipline biomolecolari
Academic discipline
BIO/04
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
Italian language
Contents
Whole plant water relations: transpiration and xylematic transport. Apoplastic and symplastic transport. Stomata. Plants and inorganic nutrients. Photosynthesis: light and carbon reaction. Photophosphoryation. Photerespiration. Phloematic transport. Hormones.
Reference texts
Slides for the lectures are in the web site UNISTUDIUM

Text books:N. Rascio - Elemeni di Fisiologia Vegetale - EdiSES II edizione (2017)
or Taiz-Zeiger "Elementi di fisiologia vegetale" Piccin (2013)
Educational objectives
The course is aimed to furnish useful elements to the understanding of the plant metabolism. To achieve this objective the students must understand a) how the plants are able to use the solar energy to assimilate the inorganic carbon and to convert it through different biosyntheses into molecules and complex organic structures composing the plant cell; b) how the plants are able to take up mineral elements and water from the environment and to redistribute them inside the different parts of the plant; c) how the plants are able to develop and to regulate their own growth, also in relationship to the environmental stimuli. The mechanisms of the response and adaptation of the plants to stress conditions will be deepened with particular attention to formation and scavenging of reactive oxygen species.
Prerequisites
Prerequisite that the student must have to fully understand the contents of the course is the knowledge of general botany (Plant citology and morphology). Important prerequisite is considered the knowledge of fundamentals of general chemistry, inorganic and organic. Therefore, in order to understand the topics covered in the course, you must have successfully supported the examination of Botany, of General and Inorganic Chemistry and Organic Chemistry.
Teaching methods
The course is organized as follows: n. 56 h of lectures an all subjects of the course.
Learning verification modality
The exam consists of an oral test of about 30 minutes long aiming to ascertain the knoldge level and the understanding capability acquired by the student. The oral exam will also test the student communication skills and his autonomy in the organization and exposure of different topics.
Extended program
The plant cell: plant organelles and their function. The water transport: diffusion, bulk flow and osmosis. Hydric potential. solute transport: active and passive transport. Ionic channels, carrier and pumps. The membrane potential. The mineral nutrition: macro and micronutrients. Nutritive solutions. Symptoms of nutritional deficiencies. Growth curves.Water and salt uptake: from soil to root, root pressure, guttation and weeping. Water transport through the xylem: Tension-cohesion theory. Cuticular and stomatic transpiration: regulation of stomata opening. The photosynthesis: photosynthetic appartus. The pigments (chlorophylls, carotenoids and xanthophylls). The light phase of photosynthesis. The dark reaction: C3, C4 and CAM cycles. Photorespiration. The starch and sucrose synthesis. Phloematic translocation: phloem anatomy. Theory of bulk flow. Phloem loading and unloading. The respiratory metabolism: glycolis, Krebs cycle, respiartory chain. Cianide-resistent respiration. Pentose phosphate cycle. Assimilation of mineral elements: uptake and assimilation of nitrate. Synthesis of aminoacids. Biological fixation of nitrogen. The seed germination: structure and composition of the seed. The seed storage. The germinating seed metabolism. The glyoxilate cycle. Seed dormience. Plant hormons: auxins, gibberellins, ethylene, abscisic acid and cytokinins. Phototropism and gravitropism.
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