( Botany ) Plant Physiology, Metabolism & Biochemistry ( Paper- I)

Unit

Topic

No. of Lectures (60hrs)

I

Plant Water Relation, Mineral Nutrition, Transpiration and Translocation in phloem

Importance of water, water potential and its components; Transpiration and its significance; Factors affecting transpiration; Root pressure and guttation.  Criteria of essentiality of elements; Role of essential elements; Symptoms of mineral deficiency in major crops, Transport of ions across cell membrane, active and passive transport, Composition of phloem sap, girdling experiment; Pressure flow model.

7

II

Carbon Oxidation

Krebs cycle, Glycolysis, fate of pyruvate- aerobic and anaerobic respiration and fermentation, regulation of glycolysis, oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate, regulation of Krebs cycle, mitochondrial electron transport, oxidative phosphorylation, ATP-Synthetase, Chemiosmotic mechanism, P/O ratio, cyanide-resistant respiration, factors affecting respiration.

7

III

Nitrogen Metabolism

Nitrate assimilation, biological nitrogen fixation (examples of legumes and non-legumes), Physiology and biochemistry of nitrogen fixation, Ammonia assimilation (GS-GOGAT), reductive amination and transamination, amino acid synthesis.

8

IV

Lipid Metabolism & Photosynthesis

Lipid Metabolism:  Synthesis and breakdown of triglycerides, -oxidation, glyoxylate cycle, gluconeogenesis and its role in mobilization of lipids during seed germination, -oxidation. ; Photosynthesis: Pigments, Action spectra and Enhancement effect, Electron transport system and Photophosphorylation, C3 & C4 photosynthesis, CAM- Reaction and Significance

7

V

Plant Development, Movements, Dormancy & Responses                                              Developmental roles of Phytohormones (auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, ABA, ethylene) autonomic & paratonic movements, Control and Coordination in plants, Photoperiodism (SDP, LDP, Day neutral plants); Phytochrome (discovery and structure), red and far red-light responses on photomorphogenesis, Seed physiology & Dormancy, Vernalization & Senescence

8

VI

Biomolecules 

Carbohydrates: Nomenclature and classification; Role of monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, sugar alcohols – mannitol and sorbitol); Disaccharides (sucrose, maltose, lactose), Oligosaccharides and polysaccharides (structural-cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectin, chitin, mucilage; storage – starch, inulin). 

Lipids: Storage lipids: Fatty acids structure and functions, Structural lipids: Phosphoglycerides; Lipid functions: cell signals, cofactors, prostaglandins, Introduction of lipid micelles, monolayers, bilayers

8

VII

Proteins: Structure of amino acids; Peptide bonds; Levels of protein structure-primary, secondary, Ramchandran plot,tertiary and quaternary; Isoelectric point; Protein denaturation and biological roles of proteins.

Nucleic acids: Structure of nitrogenous bases; Structure and function of nucleic acids, Nucleic acid denaturation & Re-naturation , MiRNA

7

VIII

Enzymes: Structure of enzyme: holoenzyme, apoenzyme, cofactors, coenzymes and prosthetic group; mechanism of action (activation energy, lock and key hypothesis, induced- fit theory), enzyme inhibition and factors affecting enzyme activity, Allosteric enzymes & Abzymes. Phytonutrients, Nutraceuticals, dietary supplements and antioxidants.

8