Photobiology and Bioenergy

The aim of the course is to contribute to the training of postgraduate graduates in order to provide them with a full understanding of the mechanisms by which plants use and optimize the capture of sunlight to implement the photosynthetic process.
The lessons will provide the knowledge background that will allow students to understand why plants, during the course of their evolution, have had the need to optimize the processes for the capture and use of light to optimize the efficiency of the photosynthetic process, but also to avoid any damage caused by irradiations that are too intense. The student will learn that the plants' optimization of the sunlight's capture has become necessary due to their sessile nature. It will then be explained that the impossibility in "moving" has given plants the evolutionary thrust necessary for the development of the sophisticated molecular mechanisms capable of perceiving and decoding the different information related to light such as quantity, quality, and direction.
The fundamental concepts of the discipline will be presented through the presentation of consolidated models but they will also be integrated by new and sometimes contradictory discoveries.

At the end of the course, the student will acquire:
Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms by which plants perceive the different wavelengths of sunlight through specific photoreceptors.
Understanding of the mechanisms used to perceive the continuous variations in the spectrum and intensity of light.
Understanding of the mechanisms by which plants measure the length of the day and its effects on the perception of seasonality.
Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying the biogenesis of chloroplasts.
Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that allow the chloroplast to adapt to environmental conditions.
Strategies to be used in the second green revolution to improve photosynthesis performance.