Plant-environment interactions

The course aims to provide students with basic notions to understand the strategies developed by plants to interact and respond to the surrounding environment, including biotic or abiotic stress conditions, and how this interaction can influence the overall plant development. Different types of interactions will be analyzed at various levels, including molecular, biochemical and phenotypical. Plant responses and adaptations to the presence of a sudden, or a continuous, stress will be also studied.

At the end of the course the student should be able to:
1. 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 plants molecular communication with beneficial (symbiosis) or pathogenic organisms (focus on recognition and defense mechanisms).
3. Analyze at various levels (biomolecular, biochemical, phenotypical) the multiple effects of biotic or abiotic factors influencing plant development.
Apply the acquired knowledge, concerning the strategies adopted by plants to interact and respond to the surrounding environment, to resolve potential environmental problems (recovery of polluted soil, benefits of particular types of symbiosis, etc.)