Syllabus
The plant nuclear genome - structure and function
Regulation of expression - epigenetics, RNA interference
Genome of plastids and mitochondria
Transposons, viruses and viroids
Transgenesis and reverse genetics
Direct genetics and genetic mapping
Annotation
A lecture in plant molecular genetics for advanced students. The actual content of the lecture is on the course website. The lecture is focused on the description of the structure, function and evolution of plant genomes (nuclear, plastid and mitochondrial), parasitic genetic elements in plants (transposons, viruses and viroids), plant epigenetics (RNA interference, DNA methylation, histone modification), methods of direct and reverse genetics, plant transgenesis. The course focuses primarily on understanding mechanisms and relationships! Secondary goals of the course are to teach students to ask the right biological questions, to read critically and interpret data (their own and others') correctly, and to think about the functioning of organisms in an evolutionary context.
For those interested, lectures on the basic principles of high-throughput methods for analyzing the flow of information in organisms (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics) may be included beyond the knowledge required for the exam.