Raven PH, Evert RF, Eichhorn SE – Biologia delle piante. Zanichelli, sesta editore, Bologna.
Bruschi - Appunti di biologia delle piante
Available on the teacher page of Moodle platform.
Signorini M. A., Appunti di Botanica sitematica. Available on the teacher page of Moodle platform.
Powerpoint slides. Available on the teacher page of Moodle platform.
Learning Objectives
Knolewdge acquired:
Knowledge acquired:
to know and understand
- material and energetic bases of living systems
- relations between plant structure and function and relations among living organisms
- plant diversity within an evolutionary approach, with special focus on flowering plants and on crop plants, in particular.
Competence acquired
- how plant cells work
- the main features of plants
- the main characteristics of different groups of green plants and of some relevant flowering plants of Italian flora.
Skills acquired (at the end of the course):
- ability to analyse and understand morphology and anatomy of plants, and also their function
- ability to analyse and understand plant diversity and to identificate the main plant crop species..
Prerequisites
Courses recommended:
Courses recommended General and inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry
Teaching Methods
Total hours of the course (including the time spent in attending lectures, seminars, private study, examinations, etc...): 225
Hours reserved to private study and other indivual formative activities: 153
Contact hours for: Lectures (hours): 50
Contact hours for: Laboratory (hours):
Contact hours for: Laboratory-field/practice (hours): 18
Seminars (hours): 4
Stages: 0
Intermediate examinations: 0
Further information
Office hours. Make an appointment by mail: piero.bruschi@unifi.it
Type of Assessment
Oral
Course program
General Botany
Notes on the energy concept and the energetic metabolism in plants and animals.
Cytology. The cell theory. The plant cell: general structure. Biological membranes– structure and composition. Transport: passive; active: primary and secondary. Cytoscheleton. Water transport and solutes. Osmosis. Concept of hydric potential. The cell wall: structure and composition. Mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, Ribosomes, Endoplasmatic reticolum. The Vacuole: structure and function. Plastid and chloroplast: structure, function, mechanisms of differentiations. Pigments. The Nucleus and cell cycle.
The tissue concept. The plant tissues: primary and secondary meristems. Adult tissues: epidermal, parenchymatous, mechanical, vascular, secretory. Organography and Anatomy. The root: functions; external and internal structure (apex, primary and secondary zones; lateral root formation). Water uptake from soil and transport to the central cylinder. Specializations and adaptations. The stem: external structure and functions; apex, primary and secondary structure. Differences between dicots and monocots. The leaf: morphological variability. Functions. Internal structure. Stomata and gas exchanges. Fundamentals of physiology: photosynthesis: light and dark phases. Photorespirazion. C3, C4 and CAM plants. Water and sap transport in xylem and phloem. Physiological issues in the germination of seeds: quiescence and dormancy. Role of the photoperiodism in the flowering and germination processes.
Systematic Botany
Diversity of living organisms. Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes. The Five Kingdoms theory.
Evolution and natural selection.
Sexual and vegetative reproduction. Meiosis and fertilization. Gametes and spores. Gametophyte and Sporophyte. Alternation of generations.
General concepts of plant systematics. The species and the species name. Systematic classifications and Taxonomic units (taxa).
THE FLOWERING PLANTS OR ANGIOSPERMS (MAGNOLIOPHYTA) Morphological and ecological diversity of Flowering Plants. Reproduction in Flowering Plants: gametophytes development, pollination, double fertilization. Reproductive morphology: flowers and inflorescences. Fruit, embryogenesis, seed. Notes on angiosperms classifications. The evolutionary success of flowering plants.
LABORATORY:
Structure and ultrastructure of plant cell.
Anatomy of root, stem and leaf in Angiosperms and Gymnosperms.
Morphological features of vegetative and reproductive organs in flowering plants.
Some relevant crop plants cultivated in Italy.