Course Description
Contrary to the common notion, plants possess dynamic and sophisticated immune systems to fight to pathogenic microorganisms. CSB353H1 is a lecture course, which discusses the ways plants have co-evolved with microbes in an on-going arms race, resulting in sophisticated strategies to protect themselves. This course presents an overview of these strategies with examples of bacteria, fungi, oomycetes and viruses that have evolved intimate associations with plants. The main focus will be the discussion of their interaction at the molecular level and components of the plant immune system and signal transduction. Finally, biotechnological approaches utilizing scientific knowledge to protect plants will be introduced.
Reading materials (research articles) will be used to practice reading and interpretation of scientific data.
Prerequisite
BIO230H1 / BIO255H1
Recommended Preparation
BIO251H1
Lecturer(s)
Prof. K. Yoshioka
keiko.yoshioka@utoronto.ca
Contact Hours
24L
Required Text(s)/Readings
None required. Reading assignments will be on web links and/or on short-term loan in the ESC library.
Recommended Text(s)/Readings
Recommended textbooks will be announced later.
Evaluation (Subject to change)
Mid-term test: 45%
Final exam: 45%
Essay: 10%
Last updated on June 26th, 2023