Plant Science

This subject examines the importance of plants for our planet and all life. It explores how plants capture energy and carbon in the biosphere, absorb almost all mineral nutrients that enter our ecosystem and underpin the global food supply, adapt to a wide range of environmental extremes and pathogens, and produce seeds and fruits that we consume. Weekly practicals allow hands-on experience with plants and involve experiments and discussion around light, nutrients and other factors affecting plant growth. Topics covered include:

• Carbon: carbon metabolism within the plant as well as symbiotic microbiomes of the rhizosphere and soil;
• Water: developmental and physiological strategies used by plants to take up water from soil, retain water in cells, and transpire water into the atmosphere;
• Abiotic stress: how plants cope and adapt to salinity, high and low temperature and other environmental extremes;
• Nutrition: essential elements for plant growth, plants as part of the global nutrition cycle, biofortification to produce nutrient-enriched food;
• Biotic interactions: plant pathogens and mechanisms that plants have developed to fight them;
• Seeds and fruits: flower development, pollination and fertilization

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Terrestrial environments are dominated by a diversity of land plants, which define the structure of ecosystems and underpin terrestrial food webs. This subject introduces the major groups of land plants from liverworts to angiosperms and fungi, concentrating on their structure, biology, ecology, systematic relationships and evolution. It is relevant for students studying plant science and those focused on terrestrial environments and ecology. Topics covered include:

• evolution, relationships and classification of land plants;
• major groups of land plants, liverworts, mosses, ferns and seed plants; their structure, biology and fossil record;
• major families of flowering plants, including Australian flora, their characteristics, biology and identification;
• major groups of fungi and their biology.

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This subject will introduce the general principles and modern methods of plant evolutionary biology: how to discover the phylogeny (relationships) of organisms using both morphological characters and molecular (DNA) data; how to use this information to improve the classification systems of plants; how to study aspects of evolution, coevolution and historical biogeography; and how to integrate information from living and fossil plants to discover the past and date evolutionary events. Examples of the diversity and evolution of Australian plants - both fossil and living forms - will be used throughout this subject. Topics will include:

• discovering plant relationships phylogenetic systematics;
• evolution of vascular plants, especially flowering plants;
• fossil history of land plants;
• historical biogeography and evolution of Australian flora.

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The subject focuses on the functional biology of plants and how it can be modified by biotechnology. Students will explore topics through a series of vignettes including plant diseases and microbiomes; plant water productivity; cell wall biosynthesis for climate change mitigation; photosynthesis and enhancement for food security; nutrient uptake and fertiliser reduction; and the genome in plants and its modification by biotechnology and biodiversity. The practical class experiences and assessments form a capstone experience in which students apply theoretical knowledge to answer complex research questions. Students will design and carry out practical work using leading-edge techniques including using CRISPR for gene editing. By the end of the subject students are prepared for applying their knowledge and skills in both the workplace and further study.

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A capacity to interpret data is fundamental to making informed decisions in everyday life. The design of experiments, analysis, and interpretation of biological data also lie at the very heart of the scientific enterprise. You cannot be a scientist without an understanding of data and design. This subject introduces you to fundamental concepts in data science for biology, with emphasis on modern statistical methods. Drawing on real biological problems and datasets, as well as drawing on data collected by the class, the lectures cover foundational concepts in experimental design and statistical modelling. The subject emphasises hands-on problem solving. As well as a solid grounding in statistical methodology, you will also develop practical skills, developing your capacity to design experiments, collect data, and analyse those data using the R statistical environment.

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This subject outlines the methods used to identify pathogens causing plant diseases, the consequences of diseases for plant productivity, and control of plant diseases. The links between classic plant pathology and modern molecular pathology techniques are explored as plant breeders and pathologists seek novel integrated disease management procedures to control pathogens.

Topics covered include:

• Taxonomy, identification and biology of the main groups of plant pathogens affecting Australian cropping industries and abiotic causes of plant diseases
• Host pathogen relationships, and the nature of disease resistance and pathogenesis
• Methods to identify pathogens, and development of tools for diagnosis
• Modern bioinformatic techniques used in plant pathology
• Processes leading to plant disease epidemics and their evaluation
• Evolutionary processes and management practices affecting pathogen populations in agricultural ecosystems
• Management and integrated control of plant diseases
• Current professional opportunities and challenges in the field of plant pathology

Practical work includes:

• Identification and diagnosis of common diseases
• Development of skills in traditional and molecular research techniques and methodology in plant pathology
• Development of bioinformatic skills used in pathogen diagnosis and molecular taxonomy of plant pathogens

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This subject provides a detailed knowledge of vegetation structure and natural values of Victorian plant communities and their assessment, including environmental limiting factors, threats due to land use, development and fragmentation, and management issues related to environmental impact assessment and conservation of native vegetation. The subject will be based around short excursions to examine different vegetation types in the Melbourne region, and a series of special lectures by scientists, managers and consultants from both the government and private sectors. Topics will include:

• ecology and natural history of Victorian plant communities;
• environmental impacts and vegetation assessment;
• conservation and management issues (e.g. revegetation, rare species, fauna habitat, weed invasions);
• biodiversity legislation and government agencies;
• consulting services and client focus.

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This subject is structured around the fieldwork in early February and covers the basic skills that are required to undertake a field-based botanical activity such as a flora survey or an environmental impact assessment, or to proceed to research in a field-based botanical discipline. Topics to be covered include:

• taxonomy of the Australian flora;
• field identification of major families and genera of plants;
• collection and preservation of plant specimens; mounting and cataloguing specimens; curatorial skills; nomenclature;
• techniques for description and classification of vegetation; structural types, floristic associations, measures of abundance (cover, density, basal area, biomass), sampling techniques (quadrats, line transects, plotless methods), sampling scale and species-area relationships, profile diagrams, life-form spectra;
• soils; and
• vegetation mapping.

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