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Intercollegiate Faculty in
Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences
F. J. Betran, M. L. Binzel (Chair), T. W. Boutton,
D. D.Briske, J. M. Chandler, Z. J. Chen, B. G. Cobb, J.T.Cothren,
H. T. Cralle, F. T. Davies, Jr., S. A. Finlayson, E.A.Funkhouser,
J. H. Gould, L. R. Griffing, T. C. Hall, D. B. Hays, J. L. Heilman,
M. A. Hussey, T. S. Isakeit, P. E. Klein, H. Koiwa, M. V. Kolomiets,
L. Lombardini, C. Loopstra, C. W. Magill, T. D. McKnight, E. L.
McWilliams, M. G. Messina, J. C. Miller, Jr., J. E.Mullet, W. D.
Park, C. O.Patterson, H. B. Pemberton, A. E. Pepper, H. J. Price,
K. Rathore, D. W. Reed, S. C. Ricke, P. J.Rizzo, S. A. Senseman,
D. M. Stelly, L. Tarpley, T. L.Thomas, M. G. Tjoelker, D. M. Vietor,
R.H.White, H. Zhang, K. Zhu-Salzman
The intercollegiate Faculty in Plant
Physiology and Plant Biotechnology has been renamed the intercollegiate
Faculty of Molecular and Environmental Plant Sciences (MEPS). The
MEPS faculty has members in the Colleges of Agriculture and Life
Sciences and Science and is administered through the Department
of Soil and Crop Sciences. Degree programs are available leading
to MS and PhD degree in molecular and environmental plant sciences.
Program requirements are determined and supervised by MEPS faculty.
Degree programs are prepared on an individual basis by the graduate
students in consultation with their advisory committee. Students
hold appointments, for administrative purposes, in the department
of their major professors.
Molecular and environmental
plant sciences seeks to understand the molecular basis for functions
and behavior of plants in natural environments. It blends botany,
ecology, molecular biology, chemistry, genetics and physics.
Traditionally, plant scientists have been interested in the improvement
of agriculture, and many of the most basic findings on photoperiodism,
mineral nutrition, plant growth regulators, morphogenesis, postharvest
physiology and plant competition have had major effects on modern
agriculture. Today the unifying goal of plant science is to understand
and improve plants. This goal involves significant interdisciplinary
interactions with molecular genetics, plant breeding, environmental
physics, agronomy and other plant-agriculture disciplines.
Graduate degree programs are individually
designed to prepare graduates for careers in specialized areas
of the discipline including molecular biology, metabolism, development,
physiological ecology and environmental or crop physiology. Faculty
members hold appointments in the Departments of Biochemistry and
Biophysics, Biology, Entomology, Forest Science, Horticultural
Sciences, Plant Pathology and Microbiology, Rangeland Ecology and
Management, and Soil and Crop Sciences. Courses in these departments
support the curriculum along with those in chemistry, genetics,
mathematics, physics and statistics.
All graduate students participate in
the student seminar program, the faculty-sponsored visiting scientist
seminar program, other faculty-sponsored special programs, the
core curriculum of courses and regional and national scientific
meetings. These activities lend continuity and unity to the graduate
student group just as research topics and the selection of supporting
courses lend diversity to individual programs.
(MEPS)
601. Physiology of Plants.
(3-0). Credit 3.
Advanced physiology of higher
plants, includes water relations, mineral metabolism, biochemistry,
growth, development, hormones, environmental signals and stress
physiology. Emphasis on current literature and research trends;
cellular and sub-cellular mechanisms related to whole plant
behavior. Prerequisites: MEPS 313 and BICH 410 or approval
of instructor.
605. Plant Biochemistry. (3-0).
Credit 3.
Major metabolic pathways in plant
metabolism; emphasis on biochemistry unique to plants. Prerequisites:
MEPS 313; BICH410.
611. Plant Nutrition. (3-0).
Credit 3.
Inorganic nutrition of plants;
solute absorption, accumulation and translocation, growth in
artificial media, physiological roles of various elements,
and biophysical/molecular aspects of solute transport; genetic
regulation of mineral nutrition and transport. Prerequisite:
MEPS 313 or equivalent.
612. Phytohormones and Plant
Growth Regulators. (3-0). Credit 3.
Biosynthesis mechanisms of action
and developmental roles of the classes or groups of plant hormones;
uses of hormones and synthetic growth regulators in plant production.
Prerequisite: MEPS 313.
630. Post-Harvest Biology,
Physiology and Genetics of Plants. (3-0). Credit 3.
Overview of the biological, physiological
and genetic mechanisms which impart phenotypes associated with
quality and value of plant products; current emphasis in the
areas of ripening, senescence, fruit and flower development
and relevant applications of biotechnology will be the focus
of this course. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor. Cross-listed
with HORT 630.
650. Plant Cell Culture for
Crop Improvement. (3-1). Credit 3.
Focus on techniques in plant cell
culture which can be applied to all crop plants, including
agronomic crops, horticulture and forestry crops for germplasm
improvement. Prerequisites: MEPS 313; CHEM 101; graduate classification.
654. Analysis of Complex Genomes.
(3-0). Credit 3.
History and current status of
genetic and molecular analysis of higher eukaryotic genomes;
coverage of techniques for dissection of genomes into manageable
parts; investigations in genetics, breeding and evolution;
emphasis on quantitative inheritance, genetic mapping, physical
mapping, map-based cloning, with examples drawn from a wide
range of organisms. Prerequisite: GENE 603. Cross-listed with
GENE 654 and AGRO 654.
655. Analysis of Complex Genomes--Lab.
(0-7). Credit 3.
Laboratory methods in molecular
genetic techniques for genetic mapping, physical mapping, and
map-based cloning of both qualitative and quantitative phenotypes.
Prerequisites: Concurrent registration in MEPS 654 and approval
of instructor. Cross-listed with AGRO 655 and GENE 655.
673. Environmental Mechanisms
of Plant Growth. (4-0). Credit 1.
Analysis of physical and molecular
mechanisms of whole plant responses to environment. Prerequisites:
MEPS 313 and BICH 410 or concurrent registration or approval
of instructor. (Four weeks)
676. Solute Transport and
Utilization in Plants. (4-0). Credit 1.
Analysis of inorganic nutrient
uptake, long distance transportation and genetic control of
nutrient acquisition. Prerequisites: MEPS 313 and BICH 410
(or concurrent registration) or approval of instructor. (Four
weeks)
677. Plant Growth and Development.
(4-0). Credit 1.
Analysis of mechanisms of hormone
action during vegetative and reproductive development, gene
expression during development, photomorphogenesis and photoperiodism,
dormancy and tropisms. Prerequisites: MEPS 313 and BICH 410
or concurrent registration or approval of instructor. (Four
weeks)
681. Seminar. Credit 1 each
semester.
Professional development for students
pursuing careers in plant physiology; oral and poster presentations,
writing skills, grantsmanship, job search and the promotion
and tenure process.
685. Directed Studies. Credit
1 to 4 each semester.
Individual problems or research
not pertaining to thesis or dissertation. Prerequisite: MEPS
313.
689. Special Topics in...
Credit 1 to 4.
Selected topics in an identified
area of plant physiology. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite:
Approval of instructor.
691. Research. Credit 1 or
more each semester.
Original investigations in support
of thesis or dissertation.
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