Plant Metabolic Regulation

Plant Metabolic Regulation

Coordinators
Carla António
Isabel Abreu

Objectives
The curricular unit (CU) aims to improve student competences in Plant Metabolism, therefore requiring basic knowledge in biochemistry. Unique plant biochemical features and how they relate dynamically to plant performance will be considered, i.e. metabolic regulation, primary and secondary metabolism, and integration of events at different levels of analysis (from biomolecules to plants). The CU highlights the need and the relevance of integrating metabolic events within the plant and its environment. Students will acquire the necessary skills to assess in a critical way the complexity of the plant system and its ability to adapt. Students will also develop the ability to critically analyse and present a research paper related to the topics of the curricular unit.

Syllabus
The Plant Metabolic Regulation CU will include a general introduction to the lectures, seminars and evaluation method. The lectures will be based on the following main topics:
I-Carbohydrate Metabolism
•The concept of metabolite pools
•Sucrose biosynthesis
•Starch biosynthesis
II-Metabolomics platforms for plant metabolite analysis
• What is metabolomics?
•Technical aspects of metabolomics
III-Metabolomics as a tool for plant breeding
IV-Plant metabolite responses to abiotic stress
•General ideas on plant stress response
•Plant metabolic responses to specific stresses
V-Metabolite flux analysis
• Theoretical aspects of metabolic flux analysis
•Approaches for metabolic flux analysis
VI-Molecular mechanisms of metabolic regulation
•Metabolic regulation in various levels (transcriptional, translational and post-translational)
•Post-translational regulation of plant primary metabolism
VII-Carbon-reactions and types of CO2 fixation
•The Calvin-Benson cycle
•Rubisco as a bi-functional enzyme
•C3, C4, and CAM plants
VIII- Extraction and analysis of volatiles
•Methods for the extraction of essential oils and of volatiles
•In lab demonstration of essential oils extraction by hydrodistillation
•In lab demonstration of GC and GC-MS analysis of essential oils
IX-Molecular Biology of Secondary Metabolism
•Gene families of Terpene Synthases and Cytochrome P450: selectivity and promiscuity
•Tools to study gene function in secondary metabolism
•Some examples of Metabolic engineering
X-Plant biotechnology and bio-products
•Main classes of bio-products
•Adaptive advantages for plants
•Factors affecting their production

• Plant Physiology, Lincoln Taiz and Eduardo Zeiger (5th Edition), Sinauer Associates Inc. Publishers (2010).

• Plant Biochemistry, Caroline Bowsher, Martin Steer and Alyson Tobin (1st Edition), T&F Informa (2008).

• Biochemistry & Molecular Biology of Plants, Bob Buchanan, Wilhelm Gruissem, Russell Jones (2nd Edition), John Wiley & Sons (2015);