Course Syllabus

• http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Faculty/Heckathorn/default.htm

McGraw Hill Web Page

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072909498/

http://mhhe.com/levetin4e

Why did you take this class?

• Easy “A”?

• Future botanist?

• Good referral?

What do you want to get out of this class?

Plant Biology (a.k.a. Botany)

• Scientific discipline of the study of plants

So, what is Biology?

and…

What is science?

Science in the broadest sense refers to any knowledge or trained skill, especially (but not exclusively) when this is attained by verifiable

means.[1] The word science also describes any systematic field of study or the knowledge gained from such study. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on

empiricism, experimentation, and methodological naturalism, as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such

research. This article focuses on science in the latter sense.

Scientists maintain that scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating empirical knowledge which

explains observable events in nature as a result of natural causes, rejecting supernatural notions.

Fields of science are commonly classified along two major lines:Natural sciences, the study of the natural phenomena;

Social sciences, the systematic study of human behavior and society.

Current important plant issues?

Why are plants important?

• Name all the products from plants used in the previous 24 hours

Why are plants important?

• Food/energy

• Clothing

• Wood, paper, etc.

• Medicine, drugs

• Oxygen

• Environmental services

What is a plant?

Figure 1.2a

Figure 1.2b

Figure 1.3

What is a plant?

• Photosynthetic

• Eukaryotic

• Multi-cellular (complex)

• Cell wall containing cellulose

• Produce embryos within “mom”

• Alternation of generations

Figure 27.1  The three major lineages of life

Nucleus

Membrane-bound organelles

Eukaryotes

• Plants

• Animals

• Fungi

• Protists (including most algae)

Fig. 5.9aFig. 5.9a

Figure 1.1

Alternation of generations:  a generalized scheme

Plants• Lower plants

– Reproduce with spores– Mosses, ferns, etc.

• Higher plants– Reproduce with seeds– Gymnosperms (cones)– Angiosperms (flowering plants)

• Ca. 250,000 of 300,000 species• Most crops

Algae

• are an extremely diverse group of photosynthetic organisms:– Kingdom Protista– mostly single-celled– key producers in aquatic food chains– a valuable source of human food– base for a number of commercial and

industrial products

Fungi

• economically important group of organisms affecting society in numerous ways:– unique Kingdom– not photosynthetic– non-cellulose cell wall– used in food, fermentation in the brewing process – used for antibiotics in medicine – role as decomposers in the environment – cause of many plant and animal diseases

True or False

• Plants provide most of the calories and protein for the human diet.

TRUE

• In nations such as the US and Western Europe, about 65% of total caloric intact and 35% of protein are obtained directly from plants, while in developing nations, about 90% of calories and over 80% of protein are from plants.

True or False

• Today, plant extracts are widely used in herbal remedies and alternative medicine, but they are no longer important in prescription drugs.

FALSE

• About 25% of all prescription drugs in Western society contain ingredients derived from plants.

• However, 80% of the world’s population doesn’t use prescription drugs, but relies exclusively on herbal medicine.

True or False

• The search for cinnamon led to the discovery of North America.

TRUE

• Columbus was one of many explorers trying to find a sea route to the rich spice-lands of the Orient. Cinnamon and other species were so valued in the fifteenth century that a new faster route to the East would bring untold wealth to the explorer and his country.

True or False

• New varieties of plants are being created through genetic engineering: these provide enormous profits for agrotechnology companies, but have no practical value.

FALSE

• Transgenic crops are being planted throughout the world. Some of these crops have been engineered to be more nutritious, disease resistant, or insect resistant, and have been found to be beneficial to people and the environment.

True or False

• The introduction of the potato to Europe in the sixteenth century initiated events that led to a devastating famine in Ireland.

TRUE

• The potato, native to South America, became a staple food for the poor in many European countries, especially Ireland. The widespread dependence on a single crop led to massive starvation when a fungal disease, late blight of potato, destroyed potato fields in the 1840s. More than 1 million Irish died; another 1.6 million emigrated.

True or False

• 150 acres of forest are cut down for each New York Times Sunday edition.

TRUE

• Most of the world’s paper comes from wood pulp. In the US, each person uses an average of 730 lbs of paper per year, with < 50% being recycled. Recycling a 4-foot stack of newspapers would save a 40-ft tree.

True or False

• The estimated number of genes in Arabidopsis thaliana, the first plant genome sequenced, has about one-fourth the number of genes predicted for the human genome.

FALSE

• Arabidopsis has about 30,000 genes, more than double that of the fruit fly, and more than that of the human genome (ca. 26,000 genes). [note that most plants likely have many more genes than humans]

True or False

• Tomatoes were once considered to be an aphrodisiac.

TRUE

• When first introduced into Europe, they were viewed with suspicion because poisonous relatives of tomato were known.

• It took centuries for the tomato, neither poisonous nor an aphrodisiac, to fully overcome its undeserved reputation.

True or False

• A poisonous plant is one of the most important dietary staples in the tropics.

TRUE

• Bitter varieties of cassava contain deadly quantities of hydrocyanic acid that can cause death by cyanide poisoning.

• Cultures in S. America, Africa, and Indonesia have developed various processing methods to remove HCN and render the cassava edible.