Ateneo - UPO

Biodiversity and protection of natural heritage: botany

Libro
Titolo:
Biologia delle piante
Anno pubblicazione:
2011
Editore:
Zanichelli.
Autore:
Smith A.M., Coupland G., Dolan L., Harberd N., Jones J., Martin C., Sablowski R., Amey A.
ISBN
9788808061836
Obbligatorio:
No

Libro
Titolo:
Botanica generale e Diversità vegetale
Anno pubblicazione:
2015
Editore:
Piccin
Autore:
Pasqua G., Abbate G., Forni C.
ISBN
978-88-299-29
Obbligatorio:
No
Libro
Titolo:
Selvicoltura produttiva
Anno pubblicazione:
2012
Editore:
Edagricole
Autore:
Bernetti, Del Favero, Pividori
Obbligatorio:
No

The course will contribute to the objectives of the Environmental Management and Sustainable Development master course by providing up-to-date knowledge on plants, in an organismic-evolutionary perspective. The first part of the module is aimed to illustrate the main groups of photosynthetic organisms and to highlight their unique features, tracing their evolutionary path starting from plant emergence from water, with particular focus on the evolution of their life cycles, of their body plan and on the importance of plant-microbe interactions during plant evolution. The basics of taxonomy, systematics, anatomy and physiology of plants will also be provided.
The second part of the module will go into detail of Biodiversity and protection of natural heritage, focousing the interest on agrarian and forestry biodiversity. Moreover the module will provide details about the principal international rules and methodologies for plant protection, conservation and preservation.

General knowledge on plant biology and the features of plant cells

The module) includes 48 hours of lectures. Power point presentations will be used during lectures and will be made available to students, at the end of the lessons, on the course web site.

Other internet useful sites:

http://www.bioveg.unito.it/atlanteme/

At the end of each topic the teacher will propose a discussion on the main subjects to verify the level of understanding, also asking questions similar to those proposed in the final examination.
The final examination is a written test consisting of 5 open questions to evaluate not only the level of knowledge, but also the language use and the synthesis ability. A maximum of 6 points will be attributes for each answer in the written test.

Plant evolution:
Origin of photosynthetic eukaryotes. Primary and secondary endosymbiosis. Unicellular and multicellular algae.
From algae to bryophyta. Land colonization by plants: molecular and biological evolution. Liverworts, Mosses and Antocerotales: gametophyte/sporophyte relationships. Sporogony and dispersal strategies.
Evolution of life cycle and body plan in ferns. Heterospory. Pteridophyta and macroleaves.
From spores to seeds. Evolution of Gymnosperms: Cycads, Gingkoales, Coniferales, Gnetales.
Distinctive features of Angiosperms. The flower. Modern phylogeny; basal groups; evolution of Dicots and Monocots. Taxonomic position of the most common species of interest in agriculture and forestry
The evolutionary and adaptive significance of plant-microbe interactions: Fundamental concepts of symbioses. AM fungi and land colonization. Nitrogen-fixing symbioses from briophytes to angiosperms. The plant microbiota

Plant anatomy
1) Plant tissues: parenchyma, epidermal, support, vascular, secretory tissues (cytological and functional features).
2) Plant organs:
Stem. Apical meristem: tunica/corpus; central/peripheral zones. Regulatory genes. Branches and leaf primordia (tomato, Arabidopsis). Apical dominanc. Internodes: dwarf mutants, pea Le gene, gai mutant. Monopodiale and sympodial habit. Growth zones: apical meristems, determination zone, differentiation zone, primary structure zone. Eustele, atactostele. Modified stems. Secondary growth. Cork and cribro-vascular cambium activity. Bifacial activity. Longitudinal/radial systems. Secondary xylem (homogeneous and heterogeneous wood). Secondary phloem. Dendrochronology.
Leaf. Morphology and anatomy (bifacial, isofacial, unifacial, centric leaves). Control of the stomata/trichomes formation and arrangement. Modified leaves. Leaf senescence and abscission (ethylene, cytokinin, auxin roles).
Root. Position/cell identity signals, genes involved. Internal/external structure. Primary meristem, quiescent center, root cap (gravitropism), determined meristems zone, differentiation zone, primary structure zone. Actinostele. Lateral roots. Secondary growth. Modified roots. Nodules and mycorrhiza
Rudiments of plant physiology: Photosynthesis, development and differentiation of the body plan, photosyntetic metabolism (C3, C4, C.A.M).
Plant biodiversity: Concepts of taxonomy, systematics, evolution, phylogeny. Linnaeus: classification, binomial nomenclature. Darwin: evolution/phylogeny. Concept of species, evolutionary convergence, cladistics. From kingdoms to domains: K. Woese
1) Agricultural and forestry biodiversity: farming an forestry technical management, ecological networks, sic, zsc, zps, rn2000 area specifications, farming activities within special areas, containment techniques against invasive exotic plants
2)Conservation and protection of plants: International rules (CBD, CITES, NAGOYA, RAMSAR)calculation of the environmental value, protection and conservation of monumental trees

KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION ABILITIES
At the end of the course the students will acquire knowledge about:
- the concepts of systematics, taxonomy and phylogenetics;
- the evolution of the plant life cycle and of the plant reproductive strategies;
- the taxonomic position of plant species of biotechnological interest;
- the plant anatomical structures and their histology

CAPACITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND COMPREHENSION
At the end of the course the students will be able to:
- place plants into a phylogenetic tree;
- recognise the different stages of a plant life cycle;
- anatomical structure of plants and organization of their tissues
- Rules and techniques for Biodiversity and natural heritage protection:
.
ABILITY OF INDEPENDENT JUDGEMENT
Students will be able to critically evaluate the feasibility of operations to protect plant biodiversit. They will also be able to critically evaluate information coming from the media.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS
At the end of the teaching the students will handle the technical-scientific terminology used in plant evolution, phylogenetics and anatomy. In addition, their communication and language skills as well as their ability to analyze a scientific work will be challenged through the reading of papers written both in English and in talian

LEARNING ABILITY
At the end of the course, the students will master the most important concepts in the field (evolution, systematic, biodiversity) and they will be able to apply them autonomously to plant species.