Plant development

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

It is based on knowledge mainly from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and addresses from a molecular, cellular and physiological point of view, the following concepts:

• Roles and function of the main phytohormones.
• Development of male and female gametes, fertilization.
• Development of the embryo, the seed and the fruit.
• Functioning of root and stem meristems (vegetative and floral).
• Architecture of the flower.
• Mechanisms of adaptive development in response to abiotic factors: light, gravity, cold.

Some 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, ...).

• Knowledge:
• Assimilate the strategies for studying plant development: techniques for studying gene expression (notion of reporter genes) and gene function (mutant approaches, transgenesis).
• Acquire the key physiological, biochemical and molecular bases of plant development.

Know the role and modes of action of phytohormones.

• Know-how :
• Know how to phenotype and genotype mutants.
• Analyze molecular mechanisms related to development.
• Master the scientific process: hypothesis, experiments (replicates), observation, description, interpretation, synthesis, conclusion (deduction, proposal of a general model).
• Know how to search for scientific information, synthesize it from several sources and prioritize it according to their credibility.
• Acquire some basics of scientific writing.

• Know how to be :
• Rigor, curiosity.

Acquisition of critical thinking skills

L2 UE Basics of Plant Physiology

Recommended Prerequisites: Basics of molecular, cellular and genetic biology