Pl_P 535 Molecular Genetics of Plant and Pathogen Interactions
(Spring semesters every alternate year; open to UI students)

Course Objectives are: (1) to provide you with an understanding of the biology, physiology, genetics, and biochemistry of interactions between plants and their pathogens; (2) to provide you with a good working knowledge of current research tools used to address questions in plant-pathogen interactions; (3) to provide you with the analytical tools to critically evaluate the scientific literature, design experiments and rigorously test scientific hypotheses of plant-pathogen interactions. This course has two 75-minute classroom periods per week. We will not be following a strict lecture format in each time slot but rather will have a mix of lecture and discussion. We would like to keep the course as interactive as possible. There will be 9 – 12 discussion sessions during the semester (depending on final student numbers). These will be led by groups of students. Students will be organized randomly into groups at the middle of the semester. Students will be graded based on their level of participation, as a group and as individuals, in these discussions. This course has no laboratory component. For more information, see the Syllabus for Spring 2018.

 

Pl_P 499 Special Problems

There is an opportunity to pursue independent study for undergraduate students majoring in biology or agriculture with interests in the field of plant molecular biology, genetics, and biochemistry. Students will study plant-microbe interactions with a focus on cellular dynamics of immune responses in a model plant and crops. Through the projects, students will be offered a broad range of training in the advanced technologies, e.g., molecular cloning, gene expression analysis, cellular signaling measurements, as well as genetic transformation. The difficulty level of the project will be set according to the experience and interests of the individual students. Students will be graded based on lab participation, written project-progress reports and oral presentations in our lab meeting. For more information, contact Kiwamu Tanaka.