Offered Winter Term, 2001.
A different kind of a study of plants for students interested in the special functional and economic aspects of plant chemical constituents.
This course will survey the major secondary compounds in plants in terms of their functions in plants, their physiological/biochemical actions on animals and plants, their economic value and their evolution. These compounds will be grouped primarily on a functional rather than a structural basis, i.e., pigments, fragrances, flavoring agents, hormones, pheromones, allelopathic agents, toxins (including antibiotics, mycotoxins and carcinogens), neurotoxins (stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens), medicinal compounds, defenses against pathogens, defenses against herbivores and pollination biochemistry. The course touches many aspects of biochemistry which relate to our lives and our environment.
A tentative lecture schedule for Winter Term, 2001 is available for perusal.
Students are given a functional literacy in this broad field and introduced to the relevant databases and Internet resources in order to teach them how to answer their own questions in the future.
Prerequisites: Chemistry 210 (one term of organic chemistry) and Biology 162 or equivalent.
3 credits. Lectures with some discussion.
Meets 9:10-10:00 a.m. in room 2003 Natural Science Bldg. during Winter Term, 2001.
Instructor: Noodén.
Office hours: 1:30-2:30 M and Th, room 2014A Natural Sci. Bldg., Winter Term, 2001.