Special Topics in Biology: Plant-Microbe Interactions

1 unit

This is a research-based laboratory course offered by Dr. Barbara Kunkel in the Biology Department. The small class size and laboratory setting of the course are intended to foster development of student-professor mentoring relationships. Research Question: Microbial organisms play very important roles in the lives of plants and animals. For example, in nature as well as in agricultural settings, the communities of microorganisms that grow on or near plants influence the growth and overall health of these plants. Each year the students in the course explore a different topic related to interactions between plants and their associated microbes. During the coming academic year our research will focus on virulence mechanisms used by the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae to promote disease in plants. The Kunkel lab has shown that the plant hormone auxin promotes disease development in interactions between P. syringae strain PtoDC3000 and one of its hosts, Arabidopsis thaliana, a small plant commonly used by researchers to study fundamental aspects of plant biology. Auxin acts through at least two different mechanisms to promote disease, including 1) suppressing defense responses in the plant and 2) regulating gene expression in the pathogen. We will investigate this second activity by screening for and characterizing PtoDC3000 mutants that do not properly respond to auxin. Students will spend two hours per week in lab carrying out bacteriological and molecular biology experiments. Over the course of the semester, students will be exposed to a variety of fundamental topics in biology, including: microbiology, plant growth and development, plant-microbe interactions, and key concepts in genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry. The students will also meet with Dr. Kunkel for one hour per week to discuss a variety of topics chosen to explore: i) basic concepts in chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology, ii) learning and study strategies, and iii) other topics related to thriving at Wash U.