Engineering and Molecular Biology of Plants

Code:

EBE0218

Acronym:

EBMP

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Molecular Biotechnology

Instance: 2017/2018 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Molecular Biology
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Bioengineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIB	27	Syllabus	3	-	6	42	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Students should acquire detailed knowledge in plant biology and its wide range of applications in biotechnology. Students should gain an in-depth knowledge of the molecular processes underlying plant physiology and morphology, and of the molecular methodologies available to study these processes and their use in biotechnology.

 

Learning outcomes and competences

Students should acquire skills to:

1) Interpret and understand the molecular processes underlying plant physiology

2) Research and develop specific knowledge in plant biology, knowing how to employ the available tools.

3) Perform a critical analysis of the experimental results and their interpretation in light of acquired theoretical knowledge and

4) Formulate experimental strategies involving molecular methods to study the functional biology of plants and to solve problems in the area of biotechnology.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

Molecular and Cell Biology

Program

1 – The plant systems. Plant cell, body plan, organs and tissues; photosynthesis, respiration and photorespiration; metabolic flow in plants- primary and secondary metabolism; plant development - morphogenesis, hormones and signal transduction, plant genetics- specificities and models.

2- Molecular methodologies used in plant biotechnology. Transgenic plants – methods of transformation, regeneration and applications;; modulation of gene expression- knockouts, silencing, over–expression, alteration of the gene expression products, plant functional genomics- genomes, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and biocomputing tools.

3- Plants for the future. Plant improvement (nutritional content, productivity, tolerance to stress, pathogen and herbicides, phytoremediation); plants as production systems (molecular farming) - plants as green factories for the production of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, plastics, biomaterials, and biofuels.

Mandatory literature

Adrian Slater, Nigel W Scott and MarK R Fowler; Plant Biotechnology-The genetic manipulation of plants, Adrian Slater, Nigel W Scott and MarK R Fowler, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-19-928261-6
Buchanan, Gruissem and Jones; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants, Buchanan, Gruissem and Jones, 2000. ISBN: 0-943088-39-9
Arie Altman, Paul Michael Hasegawa; Plant Biotechnology and Agriculture- Prospects for the 21st century, Academic Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-12-381466-1

Complementary Bibliography

Taiz Lincoln; Plant physiology. ISBN: 978-0-87893-856-8
Carlos Azevedo, Claudio Sunkel; Biologia Molecular e Celular- 5.ª edição, Lidel, 2012. ISBN: 978-972-757-692-0

Teaching methods and learning activities

The central themes of Plant Biology are presented by the teacher, and followed by an in-depth discussion involving the presentation of scientific papers relevant to each topic by the students.

At the end of the semester students should select one of the scientific questions raised by the topics discussed and present a research project, which should include an introduction, a work plan, methods to be used, expected results and their contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the chosen area.

keywords

Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Biology > Molecular biology
Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Botany > Plant physiology
Natural sciences > Biological sciences > Biological engineering > Genetic engineering
Technological sciences > Technology > Biotecnology > Plant biotechnology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Defesa pública de dissertação, de relatório de projeto ou estágio, ou de tese	40,00
Exame	40,00
Participação presencial	20,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	2,00
Elaboração de projeto	6,00
Frequência das aulas	37,50
Total:	45,50

Calculation formula of final grade

Distributed evaluation with final exam.

Final classification (NF) = (NT x 0.4) + (0.4 x PI) + (0.2 x AA)

where

NT, exam classification mark

PI, classification mark of the research project

AA average of the marks obtained for the presentation of scientific papers

To pass the course, the final grade can not be lower than 9.5 and the exam classification mark can not be lower than 9,0.

Internship work/project

At the end of the semester students should select one of the scientific questions raised by the topics discussed and present a research project, which should include an introduction, a work plan, methods to be used, expected results and their contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the chosen area.