Plant Physiology and Biochemistry I

Plant-Water relations and Membrane transport: Water potential and its relations, Soil Plant Atmosphere Continuum (SPAC), transpiration.

Mineral Nutrition: Role of micro and macro elements, chelating reagents, mechanism of phloem transport, translocation of sugars.                                   

Photosynthesis: Photosynthetic pigments , absorption and action spectrum, photo-oxidation, non-cyclic and cyclic transportation of electrons, proton gradient and photophosphorylation, Calvin cycle, structure of RUBISCO and regulation of its activity, control of Calvin cycle , C₄ pathway and its significance, CAM pathway, differences between C₃ and C₄ plants and photorespiration.

Respiration: Anaerobic and aerobic respiration, fermentation, Respiratory Quotients, glycolysis, regulation of glycolysis, regulation of TCA cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, glyoxylate pathway, gluconeogenesis.

Nitrogen Metabolism : Nitrogen cycle, Nitrogen fixation, importance of nitrate reductase and its regulation, Nod factor,  nif and nod genes, glutamate D dehydrogenase reaction.                                                                                                             

Signal transduction: Receptors, ion channel, G-proteins and enzyme linked, calcium-calmodulin cascade, signal transduction mechanisms with special reference to plant growth regulators.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Stress physiology: Plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, plant defense mechanisms against water stress, salinity stress, metal toxicity, freezing and heat stress, Role of jasmonic acid and salicylic acid

Growth and Development: Plant growth regulators- Auxins, Gibberellins, Cytokinins, Abscisic acid, Ethylene – chemistry, biosynthesis, bioassay, mechanism of action and their physiological roles.

Photobiology: Phytochromes and Cryptochromes – their discovery, physiological roles and mechanism of action, Physiology of flowering : Photoperiodism and Vernalization, Circadian rhythms in plants.