BT3370:03
Bush Food, Plant Defences and Physiology
| Townsville | HECS Band 2 |
30 hours lectures, 36 hours practicals. Semester 2.
Staff: Dr J Holtum.
This subject provides an understanding of traditional and modern uses of plants in Australia and examines why plants are of use to humans in general; describes the functions in plants of compounds of dietary and pharmaceutical interest to humans; describes mechanisms used by plants to defend themselves against predation and explains adaptations that enhance the performance and tolerance levels of plants subjected to environmental stresses.
Learning Objectives:
- to foster an understanding of traditional and modern uses of plants by humans, particularly in an Australian context;
- to provide fundamental knowledge of the links between plant structure and function;
- to demonstrate the roles of primary and secondary metabolites in plants;
- to demonstrate the strategies used to identify plants with potential pharmaceutical and agro-chemical applications;
- to illustrate in practical sessions the characteristics of plant function documented in lectures.
Assessment by a three-hour examination (60%); performance in written assignments and practical exercises (40%).