Alkaloids (such as morphine, nicotine, cocaine, and ephedrine), carotenoids (such as lycopene and beta-carotene), flavonoids, etc.. - plants produce a wide variety of secondary metabolites. We have benefited from these chemicals for many years in both medical and nutritional context. Why do plants produce these compounds? Did we select for these compounds during plant breeding, or were we selected to benefit from them? Do we use them in the same physiological context as the plant? If so, what are the normal roles of the compounds?
How can we study these questions?
Traditional biochemical and modern genetic approaches to answer these questions will be presented by a secondary metabolite geneticist and a pharmacist. In addition, student-led discussion style sessions will provide more in depth coverage of selected topics from the recent literature.
Prerequisite -
+ Good standing of graduate or upper division undergraduate status.
+ Basic knowledge of biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, as would be gained in BIS101 and BIS103, or their equivalent, is expected.
+ Consent of instructors.
http://trc.ucdavis.edu/kinoue/np/np2.htm
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