Metabolic Engineering of Plants
| Keywords |
| Classification |
Keyword |
| OFICIAL |
Biology |
Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S 
Cycles of Study/Courses
Teaching Staff - Responsibilities
Teaching language
Suitable for English-speaking students
Objectives
Plants depict a unique metabolic diversity that helps them to deal with a wide range of environmental threats from which they cannor escape, being sessile roganisms. Such specialized metabolism is of utmost importance to humans as a prolific source of high value natural products as pharmaceuticals, colorants, flavours, fragrances, cosmetics, etc. This course will explore the unique and complex nature of specialized plant metabolism, focusing on metabolic engineering and synthetic biology strategies designed to enhance, refine, and expand the applications of those metabolic pathways.
Learning outcomes and competences
It is intended that students acquire the ability to understand, use, transmit and apply knowledge and strategies in the filed of plant specialized metabolism and its genetic manipulation, namely at the level of the development of original research.
Working method
Presencial
Program
Plant metabolism and natural products: main groups, applications and biosynthetic pathways. Cellular and subcellular compartmentation and transmembrane transport in plant metabolism pathways. Transcriptional regulation. Omic approaches to unravel candidate genes involved in plant metabolism. Regulation of metabolic flux.
Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology strategies to improve the production and diversity of plant metabolism: manipulation of the metabolic network, use of transcription factors and enzymes with an heterologous origin, modules for genetic engineering of metabolic pathways, transference of biosynthetic pathways to host plants and microorganisms.
Mandatory literature
Lincoln Taiz;
Plant physiology and development. ISBN: 978-0-19-757724-0
Buchanan et al. ; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants, Wiley, 2015
Comments from the literature
The core reading for fundamental topics includes two widely adopted textbooks on plant biochemistry and physiology. Each year's reading list will also feature a selection of recent and pertinent articles in plant metabolic engineering.
Teaching methods and learning activities
Interactive theoretical presentations with the transmission and discussion of the latest advances in knowledge, research strategies and methodologies in the area. Presentation and discussion of articles and of research strategies and tools. The evaluation is done by the presentation of papers and two tests.
keywords
Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Botany > Plant physiology
Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Biology > Molecular biology
Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Biology > Genetics
Evaluation Type
Distributed evaluation without final exam
Assessment Components
| designation |
Weight (%) |
| Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico |
40,00 |
| Teste |
60,00 |
| Total: |
100,00 |
Amount of time allocated to each course unit
| designation |
Time (hours) |
| Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico |
30,00 |
| Estudo autónomo |
30,00 |
| Frequência das aulas |
21,00 |
| Total: |
81,00 |
Eligibility for exams
Attendance to 75% of the classes. Accomplishment of all the components of the evaluation process
Calculation formula of final grade
Presentation - 40%
Tests - 60%
Classification improvement
The tests can be repeated for improvement within the legally defined conditions and periods.