Plant Physiology

This course examines how plants work at the biochemical, cellular, and organismal levels. Topics include photosynthesis, how plants acquire and transport materials, environmental and hormonal regulation of growth and development, physiological ecology, secondary metabolism, plant defenses, and genome organization. Lab will involve student-designed experiments using the greenhouse and growth chambers, the portable photosynthesis system and other lab equipment, as well as molecular techniques. Three lectures and one two-hour laboratory period each week. Offered Spring Semester of even years.