B7012 - METABOLOMICS TECHNIQUES AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN PLANT SCIENCE

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, the student knows what metabolomics is, and how to approach a metabolomic study through different techniques, acquiring the preliminary knowledge to read and interpret NMR and MS spectra, and to handle and correlate data emerging from a metabolomic experiment. The student understands the experimental design, the potentialities and the limits of metabolomics applied to different fields, with particular attention to plant samples and with some hints also to human samples.

Course contents

-"Omic" sciences and metabolomics, definitions and basic concepts, importance of plant metabolites for humans and for the ecosystem

-Historical notes, complexities and challenges of metabolomics approach

- workflow of a project based on metabolomic analysis -

-experimental design, sampling, sample preparation, prepurification techniques, extraction

-analytical techniques: NMR, LC-MS and other techniques used (advantages and disadvantages), general principles of these analytical techniques

- interpreting metabolomics  through multivariate analysis, database preparation and management

- Applications of metabolomics in the plant sience field (quality control of botanical and food products, ecological studies, studies of active ingredients of plants, studies aimed at understanding the function of secondary metabolites in plants)

-other applications of metabolomics

-practical examples of metabolomic studies applied to plants and their metabolites

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography will consist of scientific articles that will be indicated during the course and inserted on the slides.

All slides will be published and provided to the students in order to support their study 

Teaching methods

Lectures supported by ppt projections are expected

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of the presentation (10 minutes) of a ppt based on a scientific article focused on plant metabolomics.

The student will be evaluated on the basis of the oral presentation, the preparation of the presentation and the contents exposed to demonstrate his mastery of the topic.

Teaching tools

On the virtual platform, all the slides will be provided to the students together with the scientific articles of main interest for the study

Office hours

See the website of Manuela Mandrone