Integrated Systems of Plants

The course aims to provide basic concepts to understand strategies developed by plants to interact and respond to the surrounding environment, being it either biotic or abiotic, and how this interaction can influence plant development. The study will develop at various levels, including the molecular, biochemical and developmental ones, and will also discuss the adaptations of plants to environments characterized by the presence of stressful conditions (biotic or abiotic).

1. To illustrate the main types of plant-environment interactions in response to biotic and abiotic stresses and the resulting plant response strategies.
2. Define the different ways of molecular communication of plants with beneficial (symbiosis) or pathogenic (focus on defence mechanisms) organisms.
3. Analyse the effects of biotic or abiotic factors on plant development at various levels (biomolecular, biochemical).
4. Apply the acquired knowledge, in relation to the strategies adopted by plants to interact and respond to the surrounding environment, also to solve potential environmental problems (recovery of polluted soils, benefits of particular types of symbiosis, etc.)