2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue
BLGY3255 Plant Development: Making a plant in theory and practice
20 creditsClass Size: 60
Module manager: Brendan Davies
Email: b.h.davies@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
Module replaces
BLGY3205: Applied Plant Science; BLGY3252: Plant Developmental Biology.This module is not approved as a discovery module
Module summary
This module is Plant Science for the post-genomic age. It allocates equal resources to learning about the genetic and physical networks that underpin how plants work and the more practical application of that fundamental knowledge. For the theoretical framework, we assume no previous study of plant anatomy or development. The module begins with an introduction to the most successful experimental strategies in plant science. Concentrating on Arabidopsis, the world's favourite model plant, we will attempt to illustrate how just 20000 genes can specify the size, shape and vital functions of an organism that lives on sunlight, adjusts its development to fit the local conditions and sustains life on earth. The framework for this aspect of the course will be based on mechanisms. The different mechanisms will be illustrated by experimental evidence, mainly looking at the consequence of mutating key genes involved in a few developmental processes.However, a key feature of this module is that a large part of it is practical. When are genes expressed? What tissues are genes expressed in? How do we begin to determine the answers to these two questions? Using tissue culture, we will sow plants that harbour transgenic DNA constructs that allow us to visualise when and where individual genes are expressed. We will look at a range of genes to determine their in planta expression profiles.Objectives
By the end of this module students should appreciate the appropriate experimental approaches to understand modern plant science. Students completing this course will see how the combination of molecular techniques with classical genetics has produced advances that would have been impossible without these approaches.The module has a balance of theoretical and practical content, well suited to training UGs in the scientific method, where knowledge drives experimental design, which produces new knowledge.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the module students should;
1. Understand and demonstrate coherent and detailed subject knowledge informed by recent research/scholarship in biology;
2. Demonstrate a conceptual understanding which enables the development and sustaining of an argument;
3. Describe and comment on particular aspects of recent research;
4. Appreciate the uncertainty, ambiguity and limitations of knowledge in plant science;
5. Make appropriate use of scholarly reviews and primary sources;
6. Have gained practical experience of working in a laboratory;
7. Experience working with plant material and techniques described in the lectures.
8. Understand how to interpret experimental observations and set them into a theoretical framework.
9. Be capable of writing up the outcome of an experimental investigation whilst adhering to the required formal style of scientific communications.
Skills outcomes
The practical element of the module brings specific skills to the module. Students experience tissue culture that teaches aseptic technique, proficiency in aspects of molecular biology are gained and critical observational acuity is also essential in the practical teaching of the module.
Syllabus
The lecture material will cover a range of different aspects of plant development, covering the overall mechanisms of development in plant cells and tissues, and then taking a closer look at key aspects of the plant life cycle. The success of plants is dependent on activation and repression of signals at appropriate times during development, and the control of this is crucial. The lectures will give an overview of how plants make these important life decisions in response to internal and environmental signals.
Lectures will also cover an introduction to the practical component of the module and the assessment, with material on working in a laboratory with genetic techniques.
In the practical classes, we will learn key practical genetics and tissue culture techniques. We will sow plants that harbour transgenic DNA constructs that allow us to visualise when and where individual genes are expressed. We will sow plants on plant tissue culture agar in aseptic conditions. Prior to observation and analysis of the reporter lines we will utilise PCR methods to determine the transgenic status of the plants. We will look at a range of genes to determine their in planta expression profiles.
Teaching methods
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
| Lectures | 10 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| Practicals | 5 | 1.00 | 5.00 |
| Practical | 1 | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| Private study hours | 183.00 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 17.00 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200.00 | ||
Private study
The lectures provide a framework for private study. The lectures will introduce the students to the most advanced ideas and concepts in the areas of plant science that are covered by the syllabus. The subjects will be presented from an experimental perspective, not only asking how things work, but how we can set up the appropriate experimental approaches to determine how things work. This will be reinforced in the practical component of the module. The students will be expected to use part of their private study time to search and read the literature around those topics. Part of their private study time will also be required to research and revise for both assessments. The students will have to integrate knowledge gained from the lecture part of the course, with their own literature-based research, in order to interpret their findings in the practical part of the course. They will also need private study time to write up the practical part.Opportunities for Formative Feedback
Formative feedback to individual students in the series of practical classes.Methods of assessment
Coursework
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
| Practical Report | 5 page word limit | 50.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 50.00 | |
Alternative work will be required for resits.
Exams
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
| Online Time-Limited assessment | 24 hr | 50.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 50.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading list
There is no reading list for this moduleLast updated: 29/04/2024 16:11:53
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