Lecture text: Taiz, L. and Zeiger, E. (2002) Plant Physiology. 3rd edition. Sinauer. (additional materials can be found at bio.wymerteach.org)

Course description: Plant Physiology. (2-2-3) Pre-requisites: Biol 215, 301, 380 . The fundamentals of physiological functioning of angiosperms from the molecular to the organismal level. Topics include: diffusion, osmosis, cell wall and membrane structure, mineral nutrition, photosynthesis, respiration, photoperiodism, and other aspects of plant growth and development.

Course goals: The goal of this course is for students to understand how a plant functions. This understanding will extent to physiological functioning at the molecular, cellular, tissue/organ, and organismal levels.

3. understand the basic biophysical properties that underlie complex physiological processes.

4. integrate physiological processes with each other and in the context of the whole plant.

Students will ONLY be allowed to make-up an exam in cases where there is a valid excuse (such as for illness, death in the family, or authorized University activity). Students should make every effort to make arrangements PRIOR to an absence. Students MUST contact the instructor within 24 hours of the absence and all exams must be made up within 3 class days, or a zero will be assigned with NO exceptions. The final exam will consist of 100 points of new material and 50 points of comprehensive material.

Each student is expected to keep a laboratory notebook. It should be organized by project with each section containing: 1) a clear objective, 2) all details of the procedure used (this includes lecture notes, calculations, notes on your intended procedure, and any changes that occurred as the experiment was being carried out), 3) all of the observations or data collected (raw data and calculations). Each entry should be dated. The notebook will be graded when each report is turned in.

Students will write a lab report after each of the four projects. Each report will contain Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion sections and will be written as if it was being submitted for publication. The reports will be of increasing value and will be judged more critically as the semester progresses. Although students will be working in groups while carrying out experiments, each student will write their own lab report. This includes all of the text, figures, and tables. Reports will be due one week after the completion of a project.

There will be one exam at the end of the semester. This exam will test the student’s understanding the laboratory projects including the background material that the project is based on, the procedures used to carry out the projects, and the methods by which the data from the projects was analyzed.

Attendance policy: Students are expected to attend all lectures and laboratories and are responsible for any information presented (whether or not the student is present). Also, since most exercises will be carried out in groups, it is the responsibility of each individual to gather any necessary data from their lab mates. Due to the nature of some of the experiments, there will be times when students will be expected to make observations or complete portions of the exercise outside of regular class time. Such times will be kept to a minimum.

Diversity issues: Although some aspects of biological diversity are inherent to this course, human diversity is not addressed.

Disability statement: Any student who feels that he/she needs an accommodation for any kind of disability should make an appointment with the professor as soon as possible in order to discuss this issue.

Kentucky's New Teacher's Standards: Plant Physiology will provide methods of instruction resulting in a constructive, flexible learning climate (NTS II) that fosters the development of discipline-specific concepts in the core area of Biology (NTS VIII). In the laboratory, group exercises will be used to build teamwork skills (NTS VI), plan and conduct projects (NTS III), and improve communication skills (NTS III). Critical thinking skills will also be fostered as students design and conduct laboratory experiments (NTS III). Communication skills will also be strengthened through essay examinations and the laboratory notebook. The effectiveness of instruction (NTS V) and student learning (NTS VI) will evaluated using multiple assessments: exams, homework assignments, laboratory reports, laboratory notebook, student questionnaires, and student interactions. Students will be encouraged to be active learners and to be architects of their own learning.

Date		Lecture Topics [chapter]	Relevant Text Pages
Jan.	12	Review of plant anatomy and the plant cell [1]	1-5, 6-17,19-20,24-25
	14	Growth processes and development [16]	340-345, 350-352
	19	No class- Martin Luther King Day observed
	21	Development and differentiation [16]	354-355,356,359,360-362
	26	Cell walls and expansion [15]	314-326,328-331,334
	28	Cell walls and expansion [15]
Feb.	2	Phytochrome [17]	375-382,385-387,389-391
	4	Blue light [18]	401-410,413-417
	9	EXAM 1
	11	Auxins [19]	423-429,432-435,438-441,449-453
	16	Tropisms	442-449
	18	Gibberellins [20]	462-469,470-471,473,477,484-486
	23	Cytokinins [21]	493-501,502-503,504,505,507,508
	25	Ethylene [22]	519-532
March	1	Abscisic acid [23]	539-548
	2	EXAM 2
	8	Water and plant cells [3]	33-42
	10	Water and plant cells [3]
	15	Water balance in the plant [4]	47-63
	17	Water balance in the plant [4]
		No classes - Spring Break
	29	Mineral nutrition [5] and Nitrogen assimilation [12]	67-72,75-76, 259-262,266-272
	31	Plant defenses [13]	282-286,287-302
April	5	EXAM 3
	7	Light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis [7]	111-115,116-122,123-138
	12	Light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis [7]
	14	Light-independent reactions of photosynthesis [8]	146-149,150-152,152-162,162-168
	19	Light-independent reactions of photosynthesis [8]
	21	Physiological and ecological aspects of photosyn. [9]	171-172,172-182
	26	Phloem transport [10]	193-206,206-214
	28	Phloem transport [10]
May	4	EXAM 4 (10:15am-12:15pm)

(All dates are tentative and subject to change depending upon the developmental stage of our plants.)

	Date		Laboratory Activities
Project (1) Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana
1	Jan.	13	Background and experimental design. Plant seeds.
Project (2) - The effect of ionizing radiation on radish development
2		20	Background and experimental design. Plant seeds. Assignment due: What effect might radiation have on the seed’s embryo? What specific changes should we be looking for? Make your predictions based on a scientific source. Hand in your predictions and a citation for your source.
3		27	Lab prep for chromosome squashes.
4	Feb.	3	Preparation and examination of chromosome squashes.
5		10	Transformation of Agrobacterium.
6		17	Transformation of Arabidopsis.
Project (3) - The effect of plant growth regulators on seed germination
7		24	Background, experimental design, and lab prep. Assignment due: Which plant hormones would you expect to be involved in seed dormancy? In what way do these hormones affect seed germination? Make your predictions based on two scientific sources. Hand in your predictions and citations for your sources.
8	Mar.	2	Set up the experiment.
9		9	Screen Arabidopsis seeds for transformants.
Project (4) - Effect of light quantity and soil moisture content on the growth of Japanese knotweed
10		16	Background and experimental design (including method of data analysis). Assignment due: Use the internet to find out about the growth habit of Japanese knotweed. Provide information from two websites.
		23	No class - Spring Break
11		30	Set-up experiment and make baseline measurements.
12	April	6	Measure plants.
13		13	Measure plants.
14		20	Discuss results.
15		27	Lab Exam