Molecular Aspects of Bio-interactions

The course focuses on the molecular basis of interactions of plants with attackers (viruses, micro-organisms, nematodes, insects, parasitic plants), and beneficial organisms (symbiotic bacteria and fungi). The following topics are discussed:

• the repertoire of potential defense mechanisms in plants;
• similarities between plant resistance proteins in relation to specificity towards effector proteins in the attacker;
• signaling processes within an individual plant and between a plant and its neighbors;
• defense-related signal transduction pathways and the cross-talk between pathways;
• mechanisms and strategies by which attackers invade plants, overcome host defense responses and reproduce in or on the host tissues;
• mechanisms and strategies by which symbiotic organisms interact with plants;
• how fundamental molecular knowledge on these biological processes can be exploited to improve control measures, by novel non-toxic chemicals or genetic modification.

Experiments in the practical course illustrate aspects of the theory.

• Summarise the molecular basis of interactions between plants and viruses, pathogenic microbes, nematodes, insects, parasitic plants, as well as with symbiotic bacteria and fungi;

• Discuss the complexity of the repertoire of defense mechanisms that plants utilise to (directly or indirectly) counteract attackers

• Compare different strategies by which attackers invade plants and reproduce, and to give examples of the function of certain proteins in these processes

• Explain how symbiotic organisms interact with plants without triggering defense responses

• Discuss and design strategies to exploit insights about bio-interactions to the benefit of plants

• Perform experiments in the field of biotic interactions

• Write a report about the experiments in the format of a scientific publication

• ? (40%) Group size 2-4 students. Grade is based on the quality of group report on experiments in the practical. In case of a failed report, students can submit a revised version within a month.
• ? (60%)
• ? (0%) Evaluation of individual laboratory performance during practical. If a student fails for the lab performance, the practical needs to be done again the next year.

ZSS06100 Laboratory Safety

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