The course aims to study the vital and the various metabolic activities in plants.
Plant-Water relations: Plants and water, diffusion and osmosis (DPD, OP,TP, Water Potential), Plasmolysis, ascent of sap, transpiration, guttation , significance of transpiration , stomatal structure, water stress and ABA.
Mineral nutrition: Role of micro and macro elements, mineral uptake, deficiency and toxicity symptoms, hydroponics.
Transport of Organic substances: Mechanism of phloem transport, apoplast and symplast concept, source-sink relationship.
Nitrogen metabolism: N2 cycle, mechanism, biology and chemistry of nitrogen fixation, root nodulation, Nod factor, asymbiotic N2 fixation, ammonia assimilation.
Photosynthesis: Chloroplast structure, Photosynthetic pigments, action spectra and enhancement effects, concepts of two photosystems, photophosphorylation, Calvin cycle, C4 pathway ,CAM plants, photorespiration .
Respiration: RQ, ATP-the biological energy currency, fermentation, glycolysis , Kreb’s cycle, Electron transport mechanism, oxidative phosphorylation, pentose phosphate pathway.
Growth and Development: Plant growth regulators- Auxins, Gibberellins, Cytokinins, Abscisic acid, Ethylene: biosynthesis, chemistry, mechanism of action and their physiological roles, physiology of flowering: photoperiodism and vernalization, growth movements.