Plant Biology Profile

This course is a specialization module in Functional Plant Biology that explores the mechanisms underlying the major stages of plant development.

It draws on knowledge derived primarily from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and addresses the following concepts from molecular, cellular, and physiological perspectives:

• Roles and Functions of the Major Phytohormones.
• Development of male and female gametes; fertilization.
• Development of the embryo, seed, and fruit.
• Function of root and stem meristems (vegetative and floral).
• The Architecture of the Flower.
• Mechanisms of adaptive development in response to abiotic factors: light, gravity, and cold.

Certain aspects of development will also be analyzed from an evolutionary perspective by studying the role of developmental genes in the diversification and evolution of developmental processes in land plants (evolution of the root system, floral architecture, etc.).

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This course describes the methodology used by life sciences researchers to communicate the results of their experiments, both in writing and orally. Since English is the common language of international researchers, a large portion of this course is taught in English.

Written communication is addressed through an examination of the (macro) structure of a research article, as well as through an examination of the publication process in scientific journals. Several elements of written (micro) structure are examined in order to understand the differences between scientific English and literary English: clarity, cohesion, and coherence.

These courses are supplemented by a supervised project during the semester, in which students are required to analyze a research article recently published in the scientific literature and present it as an oral presentation (lecture) in English.

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Bioinformatics is a discipline at the intersection of computer science, mathematics, and the life sciences. It relies in particular on the use and development of computational tools for analyzing massive amounts of biological data. Ultimately, this big data can be organized into online, searchable databases so that users can extract data relevant to a biological problem.

The course unit “Bioinformatics Applied to Plant Biology” aims to familiarize students with the use of databases and provide an introduction to data exploration using the R software.

Virtually all instruction will take the form of practical exercises in the computer lab in small groups of students.

In the first part, students will learn the basics of the R programming language, which will enable them to organize and clean their raw data so that it can be fully utilized for subsequent analyses. Next, they will learn how to create clear graphical representations based on biological data. Particular attention will be given to writing reusable scripts and selecting appropriate graphics for the calculations based on the biological question at hand.

In the second part of the course, students will use general-purpose databases such as NCBI or those dedicated exclusively to the model plant Arabidopsis (TAIR) to conduct data mining.

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Molecular biology is not only a fascinating field of study in its own right, but it also provides other branches of biology (cell biology, genetics, physiology, etc.) with fantastic tools for modifying and quantifying genes and their products.

The EU is deepening our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the organization, maintenance, replication, and expression (transcription, post-transcriptional modifications, translation) of eukaryotic genomes.

In particular, we will explore the properties of information-carrying macromolecules (DNA, RNA, proteins) and how the interactions between them account for the functioning of eukaryotic cells and their adaptation to the environment and to the development of organisms.

At the same time, the main techniques used to monitor or modify gene expression—or to study the mechanisms underlying gene expression—will be covered in lectures and explored in greater depth in tutorials through the analysis of results.

Thus, the tutorials address these topics through (1) exercises that allow students to assess their understanding of the concepts described above, and (2) experiments drawn from scientific articles for analysis. In this way, students will acquire and/or deepen their understanding of the fundamentals of scientific reasoning and the critical analysis of results.

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Functional genetics aims to better understand the relationships between genotype and phenotype. This course covers various aspects of analyzing gene and genome function at the whole-genome level using in vivo approaches, as well as transcriptional regulation and the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotic genomes. The course is illustrated with concrete examples from developmental genetics in both physiological and pathological contexts.

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