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Mailing Address:

Dept. of Crop & Soil Sciences 116 ASI Building University Park, PA 16802-3504
Phone: +1-814-865-6541 Fax: +1-814-863-7043 David Sylvia, Department Head

Crop and Soil Sciences > Degree Programs and Courses > Agronomy Courses > Agronomy 460

Agronomy 460 — Advances and Applications of Plant Biotechnology

Instructor: Dr. Surinder Chopra
Credits: 3
Semesters Offered: Spring
Texts:
Prerequisite: BIOL 230W, B M B 251, or equivalent (contact instructor)
Syllabus: Available upon request.

Course Description

This course provides a comprehensive overview and current status of plantbiotech research. The course provides knowledge of plant systems that fall in the category of GMOs. This course will provide a comprehensive overview and status of current plant biotech research. The focus is on providing knowledge of the biology of plant systems. Consequences of development of a transgenic plant either for food (crops) or as a tool to understand molecular, genetic, and inheritance mechanisms of a trait will be discussed in detail. The course will deliver the current literature and understanding of mechanisms involved in herbicide resistance in transgenic plants. Specific topics that will be of interest to students from various disciplines include disease and insect resistance, quality traits, and secondary metabolites. Molecular biology of different pollination systems will be examined so that students will understand the concept of gene flow from transgenic to non-transgenic crops. Examples from recent developments on the beneficial use of transgenic plants as producers of modified compounds, starches, antibodies and their use in phytoremediation of toxic and organic pollutants will be discussed from the perspective of genetic and molecular plant systems. Gene expression of transgenic plant traits and the stability of an engineered crop will be discussed. Specific emphasis will be on different modes of inheritance that a transgenic plant can follow after its development and release into the environment. The course also prepares students for understanding the regulatory processes that are required for testing, moving, and environment release of transgenic crops. The laboratory component of the course will introduce students to the common technique of molecular biology that are used to detect expression in transgenic plants. Transgenic maize plants will be grown in a greenhouse and analyzed for expression of introduced genes.

Contact Dr.Surinder Chopra at sic3@psu.edu for more details.