BIOEE 4460 - Plant Behavior and Biotic Interactions, Lecture

(crosslisted) BIONB 4460, PLSCI 4460
(BIO-AS, PBS-AS, SDS-AS)

Spring. 3 credits. Student option grading.

A. Kessler, T. Pawlowska, R. Raguso.

How do plants respond to antagonists, such as herbivores and pathogens? What are the checks and balances that keep mutualist organisms in their tight interactions? How are symbioses organized on molecular, metabolic and ecological levels? What are the molecular, plant hormonal, and metabolic mechanisms mediating plant biotic interactions with other organisms? What ecological and evolutionary consequences do these interactions have for the fitness of the plants and their interactors? This course provides an overview of plants’ myriad interactions with antagonists and mutualists, from microbes to multicellular organisms, and explains the underlying ecological and evolutionary concepts. It gives an introduction to the study of induced plant responses in the light of a behavioral biology framework.

Outcome 1: Identify, explain, categorize and examine the ecological, physiological and molecular mechanisms of plant biotic interactions.

Outcome 2: Discuss these mechanisms and interpret associated data analyses in the light of evolutionary theory and draw conclusions about potential agricultural applications.

Outcome 3: Broadly apply and critically evaluate the four levels of proximate and ultimate causation for the study of biotic interactions in general.

Outcome 4: Apply, categorize and integrate basic conceptual and analytical tools to describe complex behavioral interactions.

Outcome 5: Discuss, contrast and design a number of experimental and synthetic approaches to analyzing and discovering chemical ecological processes including bioassays and chemical and molecular analyses.

Outcome 6: Read, discuss, evaluate, and objectively criticize original studies in the field.

Outcome 7: Provisioned with observations or a theoretical framework, students will be able to formulate scientific questions, derive hypotheses and design an appropriate experimental plan.