BCMB 414: PLANT BIOCHEMISTRY

Carbohydrates: germination of seeds with carbohyrate stores; storage carbohydrates (starch, sucrose and other reserve carbohydrates); structural carbohydrates (cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin); the biosynthesis of carbohydrates.

Lipids:  germination of oil seeds, the glyoxalate pathway and gluconeogenesis; chemistry of plant lipids: cutins, suberins and waxes; fatty acid biosynthesis.

Nitrogen metabolism:  nitrogen fixation (dinitrogenase); nitrogen uptake and reduction.

Secondary metabolites: Terpenes (the mevalonic acid pathway); phenolic compounds (the shikimic acid pathway); saponins, cardiac glycosides, cyanogenic glycosides and glucosinades and alkaloids; functions

Photosythesis: Chloroplast structure; photoreceptors and transduction of light into chemical energy (the photosynthesis electron transport chain); carbon fixation; the C3, C2 and C4 cycles; CAM metabolism.

Molecular and biochemical regulation of plant metabolic pathways activated in response to environmental cues: environmental stress, and interaction with pathogenic and symbiotic organisms.

Cell wall formation (primary wall, wood), secondary metabolism (lignin, flavonoids, phenolics), wounding, plant defenses (phytoalexins, oxidative burst, hypersensitivity), responses to drought, flooding, salinity, pollutants (heavy metals, ozones).