This is an achieved page. Please visit the new website at  or  you will be redirected automatically in seconds

 

Department of Plant Sciences
University of Colombo
P.O.Box 1490, Colombo 03
Sri Lanka

 Phone : +94(0)11 2585038
 Fax : +94(0)11 2585038
 Email: office@pts.cmb.ac.lk

The following course units are offered by the Department of Plant Sciences for the fourth year Plant Science Special Degree students.

• BT 4001 - BIOMETRICAL GENETICS & PLANT BREEDING

• BT 4005 - PLANT BIOCHEMISTRY

• BT 4008 - ESSAY

• BT 4010 - ECOLOGY

• BT 4011 - RESEARCH PROJECT IN PLANT SCIENCE

• BT 4013 - FOREST SCIENCE

• BT 4015 - ASPECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

• BT 4016 - MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS

• BT 4017 - PLANT DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

• BT 4018 – SOIL SCIENCE

• EC 4005 - INDUSTRIAL TRAINING (ENHANCEMENT COURSE)

Dependencies: BT 1003, BT 2001, BT 2002and BT 3003 are recommended.

Syllabus: Genetic constitution of a population: Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, factors affecting change in gene frequency; Pedigreed populations; Continuous variation: Polygenic segregation; Components of means: Additive and dominance components, non-allelic interactions, genotype x environmental interactions; Components of variance: Genetic and environmental components of variance in basic generations and experimental populations; Genetic co-variance: Parent-offspring regression; Breeding methods in self-pollinated crops: Mass and pure-line selection, hybridization and selection in segregating populations; Breeding methods in cross-pollinated crops: Population improvement and hybrid development, male sterility and self-incompatibility in hybrid seed production, synthetics; Germplasm conservation. Molecular Plant Breeding: Introduction - Molecular markers; Molecular marker techniques in plant improvement - Marker maps, marker assisted selection; Plant transformation technology for crop improvement – Improvement of product quality and plant performance, resistance in crops for herbicides, pests and diseases, Improved nutritional quality.

Assessment: End of semester theory examination and practical and/or assignments.

Suggested Reading: Introduction to Quantitative Genetics (Falconer, D.S.) 1989; The Genetic Analysis of Quantitative Traits (Kearsey, M.J. and Pooni, H.S.) 1996; Plant Breeding: Theory and Practice ( Stoskopf, N.C., Tomes, D.T. and Christie, B.R.) 1993.

Back to top

Dependencies: BT 1002, BT 2003 and BT 2004 are recommended.

Syllabus: Enzyme Kinetics: Units of enzyme activity, initial velocity, Michaelis-Menton equation, Km values and determination, significance, regulation of enzyme activity, isozymes and metabolic significance, nomenclature, purification, isolation and Immobilization of enzymes, enzymes in industry; Regulation of metabolic pathways: Regulation of enzyme activity by post translational modification and processes, regulation of enzyme concentration, synthesis and degradation, protein degradation mechanisms; Amino acids and Proteins: Structure, properties, biosynthesis; Carbohydrates: CO 2 metabolism, Triose phosphates, sucrose biosynthesis, storage polysaccharides, starch synthesis, sucrose to starch inter-conversion; NO 3 - Assimilation: Nitrate reductase (NR) as the regulatory enzyme of NO 3 - assimilatory pathway, regulation of NR synthesis and activity; Lipids: Structure, types, metabolism, β-oxidation, glyoxylate cycle, gluconeogenesis; Biological Nitrogen Fixation: Root nodule bacteria, mechanism of root nodule development, nodulins, leghaemoglobin, nitrogenase enzyme complex, Quantification; Respiration: Logic and economy of glycolysis, malate aspatate shuttle, pentose phosphate pathway, its control, reversibility, metabolic significance, amphibolic nature of Embden Meyerhof Parnas and pentose phosphate pathways, carbon flux and respiratory metabolism, cyanide insensitive respiration and its physiological significance; Photosynthesis: C 4 syndrome and its adaptive significance, C 13 discrimination, effect of light on the dark phase of photosynthesis; Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM): CAM and water use efficiency, long term and short term regulation of CAM; Secondary metabolism: Shikimic Acid Pathway, role of secondary metabolites.

Assessment: End of semester theory examination and practical examination.

Suggested Reading: Plant Physiology (Mohr H. and Schopfer); Principles of Biochemistry (Horton H.R. et al.) 1966; Plant Biochemistry (Goodwin, T.W. and Mercer, E.I.) 1982, 2 nd ed.; Biochemistry (Zubay, G.); Biochemistry (Lehninger, A.L.).

Back to top

Assessment: End of semester written examination.

Back to top

Dependencies: BT 1001

Syllabus: Individual, Populations and Communities: definition of the “individual”, Modular growth of plants- Vertical and horizontal distribution of modules, population characteristics and demography, K factor analysis, intra specific competition- law of constant final yield, establishment of a hierarchy in populations, 3/2 power law of self thinning. Ecology of seeds: aerial and buried seed populations, germination and seedling establishment. Characteristics plant communities, biotic interactions, concept of ecological niche, plant communities in space and time, classification, structure and description of plant communities: vegetation sampling, estimation and measuring of species quantities, community coefficients, multivariate analysis of communities, energy and nutrient budgets of communities. Vegetation of Sri Lanka in relation to climate and topography- classification, distribution, structure and species composition.

Assessment: End of semester theory examination and practical and/or assignments.

Suggested Reading: Ecology- Individuals, Populations and Communities (Begon, M., Harper, J. L. and Townstead, C. R.) 1987; Primer of Plant Population Ecology (Silvertown, J.) 1982; Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology (Müelluer Dombois, D. and Ellenberg, H.) 1974; Seeds (Bewley J.D. and Black M.) 1994.

Back to top

Assessment: Evaluation will be based on the research skills demonstrated, seminar (15%), the dissertation (75%) and the viva-voce examination (10%).

Back to top

Dependencies: BT 1001 and BT 2007 are recommended

Syllabus: Mapping and surveying of forest resources. Silviculture: Objectives, species selection, seed selection, sowing and planting, types of forest nurseries, forest plantations, silvicultural systems practiced in Sri Lanka; Forest Dynamics: regeneration, forest gaps and succession. Forest Physiology and Nutrition; Forest Mensuration: methods used to obtain diameter, girth, height, form, volume, age and increment of logs. Forest products: timber, transport of wood, technical properties, seasoning and preservation of wood, non-timber products. Social Forestry and Agroforestry Systems in Sri Lanka. Forest Policy and Law.

Assessment : End of semester theory examination and practical and/or assignments.

Suggested Reading: Introduction to Forestry (Shrivastava, M.B.) 1997; Forests, Trees and People - Newsletter – Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/ FAO; Wildlife, Forests and Forestry (Hunter, M. L.) 1990.

Back to top

Dependencies: EN 2001 is recommended.

Syllabus: The Biosphere; Evolution of man; Human Populations, natural resources and limits to growth; Environmental degradation- caused by deforestation, agriculture irrigation, mining, utilization of coastal resources; Pollution - by industry, agrochemicals, sewage, solid waste, heat, noise, radiation, with special emphasis on global issues such as acid rain, depletion of ozone layer, global warming; Methods of pollution control of water, air and land; Waste disposal; Legislation for control of pollution; Population control and family planning; Environmental problems associated with industrialization, urbanization and tourism in Sri Lanka; Conservation and sustainable utilization of natural resources with emphasis on soil, forest and wild life conservation; Global conventions/protocols for environmental degradation control; Ecotourism; Management plans for resources of Sri Lanka; Legislation for Environmental protection in Sri Lanka; Environmental Impact Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis.

An assignment on an environmental problem in Sri Lanka and its remedial measures.

Assessment : End of semester theory examination (65%) and practical examination (35%) or theory examination (65%), practical examination (25%) and Assignment (10%).

Suggested Reading : The GAIA Atlas of Planet Management (Norman Myers ed.) 1994; Natural Resources of Sri Lanka 2000 (National Science Foundation) 2000; An Introduction to Global Environmental Issues (Pickering, K.T. and Owen, L.A.) 1997; Essentials of Conservation Biology (Primack, R. B.) 1998.

Back to top

Dependencies: BT 3066

Syllabus:Methods in Molecular Systematics: Sampling, molecular techniques, processing molecular data and phylogenetic inference using different methods (Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood, Bayesian); Use of chloroplast, nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences in plant systematics; Use of different molecular markers at different levels of phylogeny and different problems in systematics and evolutionary studies; Phylogenetic trees and the concepts; Applications of molecular phylogenies: Organismal phylogeny, evolutionary biology, character evolution, timing the evolutionary trees, tracing the biogeographic history, evolutionary and developmental genetics and biodiversity conservation.

Assessment: End of semester theory examination and assignments

Suggested Reading: Molecular Evolution: A Phylogenetic Approach (Page, R. D. M. and Holmes, E. C.) 1998; Molecular Systematics of Plants (Soltis, P. S., Soltis, D. E. and Doyle, J. J.) 1992; Molecular Systematics (Hills, D. M., Moritz, C. and Mable, B. K.) 1996, 2 nd edition.

Back to top

Dependencies: BT 1001 is recommended

Syllabus: Concepts and Components of Biodiversity; genetic, species and ecosystem diversity; Biodiversity as an Important Resource; Assessment and Measurement of Biodiversity at Genetic, Population, species, and Ecosystem Levels: Inventorising and Monitoring of Plant Diversity; Principles of Conservation Genetics: Small populations, loss of genetic diversity through population bottle-necks, founder effect, inbreeding and drift; Estimating Genetic Diversity, minimal viable population size; Conservation and Management of Biodiversity; methods of conservation, global/ local conventions, biopiracy, IPR; invasives, impact and management; management of captive populations and re-introductions, genetic applications in biodiversity conservation and management , applied plant taxonomy and its importance in plant diversity conservation, sustainable use of plant diversity.

Assessment : Assignment and end of semester theory examination.

Suggested Reading: Biodiversity Conservation in Sri Lanka - A Framework for Action (Ministry of Forestry and Environment) 1999; Conservation and Biodiversity (Dobson, A.P.) 1996; Centres of Endemism in the World (Jayatunga, A., and Wijesinghe, M.) 1998; Global Biodiversity Assessment - Summary for Policy Makers (UNEP 1995); Proceedings of the Workshop on Alien Invasive Species (Ministry of Forestry and Environment) 1999. Introduction to Conservation Genetics (Frankham R., Ballou J.D. Briscoe D.A.) 2002

Back to top

Dependencies: none

Syllabus : Origin , formation of soil and components, physical, chemical and biological properties of soil, Classification systems and nomenclature of soil; Soils of Sri Lanka: agro-climatic zones and soil types. Sampling, qualitative and quantitative analysis of soil; Use and management of Soil: improvement of fertility, reduction of erosion, maintenance of soil structure.

Assessment : End of semester theory examination and practical and / assignments.

Suggested Reading : Thenature and properties of soil ( Brady, N.C. and Weil, R.R.) 1996; A textbook of soil analysis Barthakur, H.P. and Baruah, T.C.) 1999.

Back to top

Students will be sent to some selected relevant industry/ research institute for a period of 2 weeks, where the students will be exposed to industrial production, research problems and solving and the attitudes. Within 2 weeks of completion of the training, student needs to submit a report (according to specification available at the Department).