96563 - Botany

Learning outcomes

Provide students with basic knowledge on plant biology and in particular those of agricultural and forestry interest. Through theoretical and practical lessons in cytology, histology, anatomy and plant physiology, the tools will be provided to interpret the main macro and microscopic characteristics of the vegetative and reproductive structures of herbaceous and arboreal plants, angiosperms and gymnosperms. Furthermore, the student will be able to recognize the main families of spermatophytes and to correctly use the scientific botanical nomenclature.

Course contents

The course is organized in two modules.

Module 1: general botany (6CFU) ) (Prof. Alessandra Zambonelli)

1) Didactic unit 1: introduction (5 hours)

a) An introduction to Botany. Autotrophy and heterotrophy. Importance of the plant in the natural ecosystem and for the man .The relationships between the plants and the other organisms (symbiosis, parasitism, saprotrofism). (2 hours).

b) Classification of living organisms. Definition of species and other systematic categories; nomenclature rules. Traits with taxonomic value: morphology. Plant evolution and phylogenesis (3 hours).

Knowledge gained in didactic unit 1

The nomenclature rules and biological basis for course comprehension

2) Didactic unit: cytology (6 hours)

a) The cell theory. Comparison among prokaryotic and eukaryotic plant, fungal and animal cells. The vegetal cell wall: structure, form, dimension and chemical composition. Primary and secondary wall. Secondary modification of the wall. Biological membrane unit. Plastids: structure, function and localization of green (chloroplasts), colorless (leucoplasts) and colored (chromoplasts) plastids. Hints about the nucleus and the other organelles (6hours).

Knowledge gained in didactic unit 2

Plant cell function and structure.

Differences between plant, fungal and animal cells and prokaryotic cells.

3) Didactic unit: reproduction (3 hours)

Gamic and agamic reproduction

Meiosis and mitosis. Life cycles: gametophyte, sporophyte; spores and gametes.

Knowledge gained in didactic unit3

The biological and evolutionary significance of the different reproductive mechanisms and of the different ontogenetic cycles.

4) Didactic unit: characteristics of bacteria, fungi, pteridophytes and bryophytes (4 hours).

1. a) bacteria, fungi, pteridophytes and bryophyte: general characteristics, distribution, importance, hints of systematic. Tallophyta and Cormophyta

1. fungi. Eumycota: morphological organization, metabolism, reproduction. Systematics of the main groups of agricultural and food interest. Symbiontic associations: Lichens, Mycorrhiza.

Knowledge gained in didactic unit 4

The basic knowledge bacteria, fungi, pteridophytes and bryophytes and in particular of the eumycota.

5) Didactic unit: spermatophyte (18 hours)

Histology (5 hours)

The most important plant tissues: meristematic, covering, conductive, parenchymatic, supporting and secretory tissues. Primary and secondary tissues.

Anatomy (8 hours)

a) Root: function, morphology and anatomy; root apex, primary and secondary structure; formation of secondary roots; root modifications.

b) Stem: function, morphology and anatomy; stem apex, primary and secondary structure. Stem modifications and in particular: bulbs, rhizomes, tubers morphology and function

c) Leaf: function, morphology and anatomy; unifacial, bifacial and equifacial leaves; simple and compound leaves; specialized leaves

Physiology (5 hours)

a) Photosynthesis. The nature of light, the role of pigments. The light and the dark phases. Hints about the C4 metabolism and crassulacean acid metabolism.

c) Water uptake and translocation, foliar evaporation and transpiration, stomatal role. Assimilate transport (2 hours).

Knowledge gained in didactic unit 5

Structure, function of the tissues and organs of the seed plants and in particular of the angiosperms having agronomic interest. Plant water balance and photosynthetic process; this will allow the comprehension of the role of autotrophic organisms as primary producers in the ecosystem.

Practical/applicative lessons (24 hours)

The practical/applicative lessons consist

a) of reviewing previous lessons with educational videos (4 hours).

b) of compiling written questionnaires on the topics discussed in the previous lessons (4 hours).

c) Optic microscope: its components, preparation and observation techniques of vegetal tissues. Observation of hand-made thin sections obtained from fresh plants mounted in water. In particular the students will observe: chloroplasts, chromoplasts (3h), amyloplasts, ossalate crystals (2h), the leaf structure (3h), the corm (3h) and root (3h) primary and secondary structures of gymnosperms and angiosperms.

d) specialistic seminars (2 hours).

Module 2 Biodiversity of agricultural and forestry plants (2 CFU) (Prof. Ilaria Marotti)

The most important topics of this second module of the course are:

Spermatophytes: Gymnosperms and Angiosperms, their evolutionary importance and ontogenetic cycle. The appearance of the ovule: origin, structure and function; development of ovules and pollen sacs, macro- and microsporogenesis. The flower and the fruit: functions and types. The seed and its germination; dissemination method. Hints on the main living systematic groups and their importance in applied disciplines (particular attention will be given to species of agricultural, forest and food interest); morphological differences between Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons (7h).

Elements of phytogeography. Factors affecting the distribution of terrestrial plants, distribution areas, biological forms, biomes, vegetation dynamics. Principles of phytosociology(2h).

Plant biodiversity: Concept of biodiversity and "ecosystem services". Hotspots of biodiversity in the world. IUCN red lists. Biodiversity threats. Protection of biodiversity: habitat conservation, areas of environmental protection, seed banks, botanical gardens (3h)

Knowledge gained in module 2

The student knows the main approaches for studying plant diversity of a territory and the main regulations for the protection of biodiversity

Practical/applicative lessons: Floristic survey techniques and use of dichotomous keys of vascular plants; herbariums, preparation methods and importance (8h).

Readings/Bibliography

The slides presented at lesson will be available in electronic format in internet. The students can obtain them by virtuale. 

The following test are recommended:

Mauseth J.D., Botanica Fondamenti di biologia delle piante Idelson-Gnocchi (2020 IV ed.)

Pasqua G., Abbate G., Forni C., Botanica generale e diversità vegetale. (2019 VI ed.)

Pancaldi et al. Fondamenti di Botanica generale. Teoria e pratica, McGraw-Hill (2019 II ed.)

Speranza A. & Calzoni G., Struttura delle Piante in Immagini, Zanichelli

For deepening:

Smith et al. Biologia delle piante. Evoluzione, Sviluppo. Metabolismo, 2011, Zanichelli

Teaching methods

The teacher stimulates the students with questions in order to understand their basic level of preparation and to solicit their interest and possible clarifying questions. The student general preparation will also assessed by simple written questionnaires. Moreover, students themselves must prepare the material to be observed at the microscope. Students must also draw an outline that will testify the comprehension of the observed structure.

As concerns the teaching methods of this course unit in laboratory, all students must attend Module 1, 2 [https://www.unibo.it/en/services-and-opportunities/health-and-assistance/health-and-safety/online-course-on-health-and-safety-in-study-and-internship-areas] online, while Module 3 on health and safety is to be attended in class. Information about Module 3 attendance schedule is available on the website of your degree programme

Assessment methods

Assessment methods

The course is organized in two modules. Therefore, the evaluation will jointly take into account the level of knowledge and skills acquired by the student in relation to the contents of both modules

The assessment of the learning is carried out by a final examination that verifies the successful acquisition of knowledge by completing a written test that consists in 22 multiple-choice questions and one oral examination (three questions) on different topics of the programme.

The score ranges from 0 to 1 for each multiple-choice question (max 22 points) and from 0 to 3 for each oral question. The final score (up to 30L) derives from the sum of all the scores. The duration of the written examination is 25 minutes and around 10 minutes for the oral exam. After three written exam failures the student can ask to take only the oral examination.

Teaching tools

PC, projector, optical microscopy

Office hours

See the website of Alessandra Zambonelli

See the website of Ilaria Marotti