Biology of Plants
In this introductory course on Plant biology, the focus is on understanding the development, structure and functioning of plants. Emphasis is placed on the relations between cellular and molecular processes at one side and the functioning of the whole plant in its environment at the other side. The course consists of a cell biological/structural part
Plant-Microbe Interactions
Plant-microbe interactions will be introduced in a general lecture, highlighting recent developments and the importance of the reviewing process. For a set of recent manuscripts the students will act as reviewers and editors following the format provided by high standard international journals. Editor decisions will be presented and discussed.
Plant Development & Environment
Plants are continuously challenged by sometimes life-threatening changes in their environment. These can severely impact their development and even kill plants. Interestingly, plants can flexibly adjust their development to deal with these environmental changes. They can for example adjust root anatomy to resist drought, overall root architecture to forage for nutrients, and shoot architecture to
The Power of Microbes
Theory Microbes play an essential role in sustaining higher life forms on Earth, including marine sponges, plants, fish, and animals. Their significance lies in their vast diversity of physiological traits, allowing them to thrive in various environments by extracting energy from organic resources, minerals, and light. In fact, many microbes depend on other microbes for
Structural Bioinformatics & Modelling
Computational structural biology is a mature field of research whose contribution to life sciences is becoming increasingly more appreciated. The aim of this course is to provide a solid basis of computational structural biology methods, with an emphasis on practical protein modelling and simulation. Further, this course is designed to have a smooth learning curve
Seed Science and Technology
Seeds are not only the world’s major source of human and animal nutrition but also provide the basis for improving agricultural practices and managing genetic resources. High-quality seeds are required for successful crop production, propagation and breeding. Seed quality comprises a multitude of processes and events that occur during the successive stages of seed development,
Markers in Quantitative Genetics and Plant Breeding (online)
In this course, the students will be made familiar with the use of molecular markers in genetic research and plant breeding, the estimation of genetic distance based on marker genotype frequencies in different types of segregating populations, the construction of linkage maps, concepts and applications of quantitative genetics, the analysis of quantitative trait loci (QTLs)
Genomics and Bioinformatics
Genomics is a new area of research that relates to holistic study of the genome a the gene, transcript, protein and metabolite levels. Due to the large amounts of data involved in this study computer tools are extensively used. During the course we will present basic concepts of genomics and introduce students to the problems
Molecular Plant Microbe Interactions
The aim of this course is to understand how the immune system of plants functions, how plants and beneficial or pathogenic microbes interact with each other, and what the determinants are for their success in these different interactions. In the course several integration levels of plant-microbe (and -insect) interactions are discussed: from genes, signal molecules,
Bioinformatics
De ontwikkeling van steeds nieuwe en betere high-throughput assay technologieën transformeert de moleculaire biologie in een razendsnel tempo. Sequencing van volledige genomen en de mogelijkheid om RNA, eiwitten, metabolieten en hun interacties op grote schaal (genoom-breed) te meten brengen een revolutie teweeg in biologisch onderzoek en dientengevolge ook op de diagnostiek. Voor het eerst komen