DESCRIPTION OF COURSES
PP 602 RESPONSES OF PLANTS TO ABIOTIC STRESSES (2L+1P) I
To apprise the students regarding abiotic stress to plant and its physiological and molecular basis.
Response of plants to abiotic stresses: Abiotic stresses affecting plant productivity. Basic principles of a crop improvement programme under stress. Interactions between biotic and abiotic stresses.
Drought stress: Physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanism, strategies to alleviate drought stress, signal transduction mechanism, Drought in relation to MAS and QTL, Role of ROS/ antioxidants, ABA, Cytokinin and other hormones.
Temperature stress (high and low): Tolerance mechanisms-role of membrane lipids in temperature tolerance. Functions of regulatory proteins.
Salinity stress: Species variation in salt tolerance. Salinity effects at – Cellular and whole plant level, tolerance mechanisms. Salt tolerance in – Glycophytes and halophytes, breeding for salt resistance.
Heavy metal stress: Aluminium and cadmium toxicity in acid soils. Role of phytochelatins (heavy metal binding proteins).
Determination of water status of plants: RWC, pressure chamber and psychrometry, determination of osmotic potential by osmometer, stomatal conductance, canopy temperature by infra-red thermometer, creation of nutrient deficiency and assessment of root characteristics, chlorophyll content index by chlorophyll meter, root biomass by root capacitance meter, heat tolerance and membrane integrity.