Plant Signal Transduction

To provide the students an overview of how plants perceive and transduce environmental signals and how they adapt to the different challenges. The course will provide the students the cultural and methodological tools for the critical analysis, and the understanding, of the molecular mechanisms of plant signal transduction.

At the end of the course, the student will acquire:
Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms by which plants perceive different stimuli through the activity of receptors.
Knowledge of the mechanisms used by the plants to sense the different plant hormones (e.g. Auxin, Abscisic acid, Cytokinins .)
Knowledge of the role played by ROS and RNS in different signal transduction pathways and their mechanism of action.
Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and strategies adopted by plants to cope with pathogens and symbiotic interactions.
Knowledge of the techniques used for in vivo second messenger analyses and hormones detection in plant cells.
Knowledge of the universal role played by calcium ions (Ca2+) in different signaling pathways and how the plant cells regulate its homeostasis.
Knowledge of the mechanisms developed by the plants to detect intracellular Ca2+ variations (Ca2+ binding proteins, sensor relays and sensor responders).
Understanding the intricate mechanisms of the second messenger's crosstalk in local and systemic signalization.