NOTES TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS:

• Please contact us if you are interested in taking this course, but do not have the prerequisite classes.   Whether or not this course is for you will depend on your work ethic, style of learning, and how much time you have to fill in your background.
• Course format is 3 hours of lecture/discussion per week.   Attendance and participation in all three hours is required.
• This course is reading intensive.  Expect to read ca. 100 - 200 pages of textbooks and "hot-off-the-presses" journal articles per week.
• Examinations are 1 week "take home - open book" exams.  They are designed to stimulate your intellect and synthetic skills as these pertain to "cutting edge" plant science relative to plant development.
• Plagiarism will not be tolerated! Please consult  Part V of Student Handbook.
• In addition to the examinations, Graduate Students will present a lecture on Recent Research Discoveries to the class on a contemporary topic in plant development of the student's choice from a list provided by the instructors.
• MU Course WITHDRAWAL POLICY 

Instructor:        Roger D. Meicenheimer
Office:                358 PSN
Phone #:           529-7012
Office Hours:    M,W  10:30 - 12:00, or by appointment
Email:                 MeicenRD@MUOhio.edu
Internet Home Page:  http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~meicenrd
 

Biographical Information:

     Native of eastern Oregon
     BA (1975) - University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
     MS (1978) - Washington State University, Pullman, WA
     Ph.D. (1980) - Washington State University, Pullman, WA
     Postdoctoral Position (1980) - North Central Forest Experiment Station, Rhinelander, WI
     Assistant Professor (1981); Associate Professor (1987); Professor (1992) - Miami University, Oxford, OH

Research Interests:

     Developmental Plant Morphology and Plant Anatomy.
     Emphasis on stem, leaf, and vascular components of the plant.

LECTURES IN THE SYLLABUS BELOW IN THIS HUE WILL BE DELIVERED BY:

Instructor: Dr. Q. Quinn Li       
Office:        390 Pearson Hall   
Phone #:    529-4256     
Office Hours:  M, F 1:00 - 2:00pm, or by appointment   
Email:     liq@muohio.edu        
Internet Home Page: http://www.users.muohio.edu/liq

Research Interests:

Plant mRNA processing; Plant Genetic Engineering
 

Objectives of this course:

• To acquaint students with the methods and models that have been employed by researchers endeavoring to understand how plants grow and develop.
• To provide students with an understanding of how the major organs comprising the plant body are organized via various pattern forming processes into functional integrated units.
• To illustrate for the student the application of the scientific method toward elucidation of fundamental processes that result in plant morphogenesis.

• Graduate students should enroll in this course as BOT 503

• BOT 403 is a 3 credit hour lecture course which:
  •         Fullfills requirement for A. B. degree in Botany.
  •         Fullfills requirement for B. S. degree in Botany.
  •         Fullfills requirement in Environmental Management/Forestry Duke-Miami Cooperative Program
  •         Fullfills requirement in the Botany Minor with a theme of Molecular Processes

Grade Information:

    403 Final Grade = (2 Subject Exams + Final Exam) / 3.
    503 Final Grade = (2 Subject Exams + Final Exam + Lecture Presentation*) / 4.

* Graduate Students will present a lecture on Recent Research Discoveries to the class on a contemporary topic in plant development of the student's choice and subject to our approval.

• All students (undergraduate and graduate) are expected to read all focus papers and participate in class discussions of these.
  
• Paper selection and presentation preparation:  Each student  will randomly select a broad topic (Embryogenesis, Roots, Stems, Leaves, or Reproductive Structures) and within that topic, one focus paper, from a list provided by the instructors, for which they will present a lecture at the indicated times in the syllabus.
  
• <>The format of the presentation:  Each student will give a 40 minute presentation of their focus paper, then lead a 25 min class discussion, followed by a 5 minute summary of the class discussion. The presenting student should prepare 4-5 thought-provoking questions for the class discussion.
• Evaluation of the presentation:  Each presenter will be evaluated by classmates and instructors.  An evaluation form (download from the course infomation folder) will be used for peer and instructor evaluation of the presentation and class discussion. The evaluation forms will be given to the presentors after peers' names are removed.

• Howell, S. H.  1998.  Molecular Genetics of Plant Development.  Cambridge University Press.  Cambridge.  ISBN number is 0521587840.
• Lyndon, R. F. 1990.  Plant Development The Cellular Basis.  Topics in Plant Physiology: 3 (M. Black and J. Chapman, editors)  Unwin Hyman.  London.  ISBN number is 0045810338.
• Steeves, T. A and I. M. Sussex.  1989 Patterns in Plant Development.  Cambridge University Press.  Cambridge. ISBN number is 0521288959.