The faculty in the Department of Plant Biology offer programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Plant Biology. Among other areas of study, two concentrations are available: ecology and photosynthesis.
Select faculty collaborate with the faculty in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Microbiology in offering programs leading to the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Molecular and Cellular Biology.
The faculty participate in the programs leading to the Master of Natural Science degree (see “Master of Natural Science” for information on the M.N.S. degree) when the primary or secondary area of concentration is in plant biology. Students interested in pursuing the M.N.S. degree through an interdisciplinary program emphasizing any of these areas should contact the Department of Plant Biology for additional information.
Applicants for these degree programs must submit scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) (aptitude). GRE scores in the advanced subject area are recommended.
The graduate programs are designed to prepare students for careers in teaching and in research on various aspects of plant biology, in educational institutions, industry, or government agencies.
MASTER OF SCIENCE
Prerequisites. Completion of the requirements for an undergraduate major in the plant sciences, biology, or related discipline, and an adequate background in related courses in chemistry, mathematical, and physical sciences.
Program of Study. A minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit is required. The program must include at least three semester hours of research, three semester hours of thesis, one semester of the core course PLB 598 ST: Perspectives in Plant Sciences, and one hour of participatory seminar (PLB 591). The program is planned by the student in consultation with the supervisory committee.
Foreign Language Requirements. None.
Comprehensive Examinations. Not required.
Thesis Requirements. A thesis is required.
Final Examinations. A final research seminar and an oral examination covering the thesis and related subject matter are required.
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
See “Doctor of Philosophy” for general requirements.
Program of Study. A minimum of 84 semester hours of graduate credit is required. The program must include at least 24 hours of research and dissertation credit and at least 30 hours of formal graduate course work. One semester of the core course PLB 598 ST: Perspectives in Plant Sciences and one hour of participatory seminar (PLB 591) are also required. Courses numbered 590 or 790 (Reading and Conference) are not considered formal courses. The program is planned by the student in consultation with a program committee that also administers and evaluates the comprehensive examinations.
Foreign Language Requirements. Completion at the undergraduate level of a one-year course with a grade of “C” or higher is required. Additional study may be required by the student’s supervisory committee.
Comprehensive Examinations. Written and oral comprehensive examinations administered and evaluated by the student’s program committee are required.
Dissertation Requirements. A dissertation based on original work of high quality, demonstrating proficiency in the student’s area of interest, is required. (See “Research and Dissertation Requirements.”)
Final Examinations. A final oral examination in defense of the dissertation is required. It is administered by a dissertation committee consisting of three to five members who previously served on the student’s program committee.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Major areas of research by the faculty, professional staff, and graduate students in Plant Biology include emphasis in the following subject areas:
Biochemistry/Cell Biology/Physiology. Cell fractionation and protein biochemistry, organelle biogenesis and metabolism in oil seeds, enzyme cytochemistry, structures and mechanisms of enzymes in photosynthetic light reactions using magnetic resonance spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography, photobiology of vascular and nonvascular plants, physiology of the fern haplophase.
Ecology/Environmental. Environmental studies spanning organismic to regional levels of organization, including effects of enhanced UV-B radiation upon plants, leaf optics, leaf gas exchange and photosynthesis, adaptations to environmental stresses (life cycle, morphology, physiology, and reproduction), evolutionary biology of cacti and leaf succulents, lichenology, quantitative ecology, effects of air pollution on plants and ecosystems, dendroecology, mineral cycling and restoration, landscape ecology, human impacts on ecosystems and ecosystem response to perturbation, interdisciplinary studies of riparian ecosystems.
Molecular Genetics/Molecular Biology. Targeted mutagenesis of photosynthesis genes in cyanobacteria and plants, functional and structural analysis of genetically engineered mutants, transformation of green algae, chloroplast gene expression, and biogenesis of thylakoid membrane-protein complexes.
Nonvascular Plants/Protists. Fungal and algal cell wall chemistry, ultrastructure and storage products, developmental morphology and life cycles of algae and fungi, phytoplankton ecology and water quality, and apical growth in fungi.
Organismic Research. Paleobotany, paleopalynology, particularly of Cretaceous and Tertiary horizons, and anatomically preserved plants from Carboniferous coal swamps and from the Permian and Triassic of Gondwana, origin and diversification of seed plants.
Systematics/Taxonomy. Cytogenetics and hybridization studies in the Cactaceae, floristics of the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, chemosystematics of plants, particularly the Compositae, and chemical ecology.
Urban Horticulture. Tissue-culture of drought-tolerant plants, molecular basis for rubber formation, plant pathology, particularly of the physiology of plant-fungal pathogen interactions, landscape horticulture, environmental stress physiology, computer simulation modeling, and nursery production and marketing.
The research mission of the department is supported by well-equipped research laboratories, greenhouses, environmental and radioisotope rooms, computer laboratory and personal computers, photographic and darkroom facilities, herbarium, the electron microscopy laboratory, and the electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy facility.
Omnibus Graduate Courses: See omnibus graduate courses that may be offered.
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