Download Entrance Syllabus for Pre-Ph.D. (Plant Physiology) –HAPPRC 1

Entrance Syllabus for Pre-Ph.D. (Plant Physiology) –HAPPRC
1. Cell Organelles and Water Relations: Cell organelles and their physiological functions
Structure and physiological functions of cell wall, cell inclusions. Cell membrane
structure and functions. Water and its role in plants, properties and functions of water
in the cell, water relations, water potential of plant cells.
2. Energy flow: Principles of thermodynamics, free energy and chemical potential, redox
reactions, structure and functions of ATP
3. Fundamentals of enzymology: General aspects, allosteric mechanism, regulatory and
active sites, isozymes, kinetic catalysis, Michaelis-Menton equation and its significance.
4. Photosynthesis: Light harvesting complexes; mechanisms of electron transport;
photoprotective mechanisms; CO2 fixation-C3, C4 and CAM pathways. Biosynthesis of
starch and sucrose, physiological and ecological considerations
5. Respiration and photorespiration: Citric acid cycle; plant mitochondrial electron
transport and ATP synthesis; alternate oxidase; photorespiratory pathway.
6. Lipid metabolism: glyoxylate cycle, alternative oxidation system, structure and function
of lipids, fatty acid biosynthesis, lipids synthesis, structural and storage lipids, and their
catabolism
7. Nitrogen metabolism: Nitrate and ammonium assimilation; amino acid biosynthesis.
8. Plant hormones: Biosynthesis, storage, breakdown and transport; physiological effects
and mechanisms of action.
9. Sensory photobiology: Structure, function and mechanisms of action of phytochromes,
cryptochromes and phototropins; stomatal movement; photoperiodism and biological
clocks. Control of flowering. Thermoperiodism - photo and thermo-period
interactions.Vernalization-mechanism
10. Solute transport and photoassimilate translocation: Uptake, transport and
translocation of water, ions, solutes and macromolecules from soil, through cells, across
membranes, through xylem and phloem; transpiration; mechanisms of loading and
unloading of photoassimilates.
11. Secondary metabolites – Biosynthesis of terpenes, phenols and nitrogenous compounds
and their roles.
12. Stress physiology: Responses of plants to biotic (pathogen and insects) and abiotic
(water, temperature and salt) stresses; mechanisms of resistance to biotic stress and
tolerance to abiotic stress
13. Tissue Culture and Plant Morphogenesis: The cellular basis of growth and
morphogenesis; polarity in tip growing cells and diffusive growing cells. Control of cell
division and differentiation, phyto-chromes, different forms, physiological effects and
gene regulation, and cellular totipotency, physiology and biochemistry of
differentiation, in organ cell, tissue and cultures, micropropagation strategies,
application of tissue culture in agriculture, horticulture and forestry.
SUGGESTED READINGS: 1. Buchanan, B.B., Gruissem, W. and Jones, R.L. 2000. Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology of Plants. American Society of Plant Physiologists, Maryland, USA. 2. Dennis, D.T.,
Turpin, D.H., Lefebvre, D.D. and Layzell, D.B. (eds) 1997. Plant Metabolism (second edition). Longman,
Essex, England. 3. Hooykaas, P.J.J., Hall, M.A. and Libbenga, K.R. (eds) 1999. Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology of Plant Hormones. Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 4. Hopkins, W.G. 1995. Introduction
to Plant Physiology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, USA. 5. Lodish, H., Berk, A., Zipursky, S.L.,
Maztsudaira, P., Baltimore, D. and Darnell, J.2000. Molecular Cell Biology (4th edition). W.H. Freeman
and Company, New York, USA. 6. Moore, T.C. 1989. Biochemistry and Physiology of Plant Hormones
(second edition). Springer-Verlag. New York USA. 7. Nobel, P.S. 1999. Physiochemical and Environmental
Plant Physiology (Second edition). Academic Press, San Diego, USA. 8. Noggle, G.R and Fritz, G.F. 1977.
Introductory Plant Physiology. Prentice Hall. New Delhi. 9. Salisbury, F.B. and Ross, C.W. 1992. Plant
Physiology (4th edition). Wadsworth Publishing Co., California, USA. 10. Singhal, G.S., Renger, G., Sopory,
S.K., Irrgang, K.D. and Govindjee 1999. Concepts in Photobiology: Photosynthesis and
Photomorphogenesis. Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi. 11. Taiz, L. and Zeiger, E. 1998. Plant
Physiology (2nd edition). Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers, Massachusetts, USA. 12. Thomas, B. and
Vince-Prue, D. (1997) Photoperiodism in Plants (Second edition). Academic Press, San Diego, USA.