Get a Basic Knowledge of Plant Biochemistry
Your path will be paved with a solid foundation in plant biochemistry thanks to this course. Although it focuses on plants, a lot of the information is relevant to both plants and animals.
Everything that occurs in a plant, from the germination of seeds and the development of tissues to the creation of flowers and fruit, is driven by chemical interactions. Knowing how these chemical processes work will give you a special understanding of how to use and manage plants.
The nitrogen cycle, metabolism, photosynthesis, respiration, perspiration, acidity and alkalinity, nutrition, hormones, chemical analysis, and biochemical applications in industry are all topics to be studied.
This course uses a problem-based approach to learning, which makes the learning process practical and applicable and aids in understanding, assimilation, and retention of new information.
Because I didn’t complete high school and I’ve never studied biochemistry, the student says, “My confidence is a little low, but the encouragement I’m getting from Honor [the tutor] is really helping and making it easier for me as I go.” I am learning more about my abilities and my intelligence than I ever imagined thanks to this training. I am grateful that you have allowed me to pursue my passion while working. Australia’s Melissa Smith, first-year biochemistry.
A knowledge of chemistry from secondary school is recommended but not required as a prerequisite.
Lesson Structure
There are 9 lessons in this course:
- Introduction
- The Basics
- Atoms
- The Atomic Nature Of Matter
- The Structure Of Atoms
- Elements And Compounds
- Parts Of A Compound
- Chemical Names
- Alkyl Groups
- Organic Compounds
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Amino Acids
- Lipids
- Nucleic Acids
- Biochemical Processes In Plants And Animals
- What Is Life?
- Classification Of Living Things
- Biochemistry
- Biochemical Process In The Cell
- The Carbon Cycle
- Calculating The Components Of A Chemical
- Atomic Weights Of Elements
- Lipids, Proteins & Carbohydrates
- Carbohydrates
- Types Of Carbohydrates
- Hydrolysis
- Aromatic Compounds
- Aryl Groups
- Lipids & Proteins
- Characteristics Of Lipids
- Naturally Occurring & Commercially Useful Lipids
- Proteins
- Amino Acids
- Types Of Proteins
- Lipoproteins
- Proteins In The Human Diet
- Protein Structure
- Enzymes & Hormones
- Definitions
- Enzymes
- Plant Hormones
- Chemical Growth Modification
- Effect Of Temperature
- Effect Of Ph
- Activation
- Isoenzymes
- Inhibition
- Nitrogen & The Nitrogen Cycle
- The Role Of Nitrogen
- The Nitrogen Cycle
- Nitrogen Fixation
- Ammonification
- Nitrification
- Denitrification
- Nitrogen Loss
- Forms Of Nitrogen
- The Urea Cycle
- Photosynthesis & Respiration
- Photosynthesis
- The Light Reactions
- The Dark Reactions
- Environmental Factors Which Affect Photosynthesis
- Respiration
- The Rate Of Respiration
- Assimilation & Transpiration
- Water And Plant Growth
- Transpiration
- Environmental Factors That Affect Transpiration & Water Uptake
- Metabolism Of Plants & Animals
- Animal Nutrition
- Animal Respiration
- Animal Synthesis
- Mechanisms Of Nutrient Uptake In Plants
- Acidity & Alkalinity
- Ph
- Measuring Ph
- What Is An Acid Or Base?
- Buffers
- Nutrient Availability & Ph
- Cation Exchange Capacity & Ph
- Plant Cellular Ph Balance
- Chemical Analysis
- Laboratory Testing Of Soils
- Soil Sampling
- Conductivity
- Measuring Salinity
- Conductivity & Hydroponics
- Colorimeters
- Chromatography
- UV/Visible Spectrophotometers
- Other Instruments Used In Laboratories
- Biochemical Applications
- Alkaloids
- Poisonous Plants
- Herbal Medicines
- Chemical Toxicities
- Chemical Pesticides: Insecticides
- Summary Of Main Chemical Groups Of Insecticides
- Comparative Toxicities Of Pesticides
- How Poisonous Is A Chemical?
- Tissue Culture
- Problems
- Tissue Culture Procedures
- Explants
- Sterilisation
- Nutrient Media
- Methods Of Shoot Induction & Proliferation
- Multiplication By Adventitious Roots
- Rooting And Planting Out
- Environmental Conditions
- Types Of Media
- Composition Of Nutrient Media
- Cleanliness
- Light And Temperature Conditions
- Hormones
- Laboratory Requirements
- Glossary Of Terms Used In Tissue Culture
- Biotechnology In Horticulture
- Cell Fusions
- Overcoming Pollination Incompatibility
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
- Describe the traits of typical chemical substances that are crucial to plant biochemistry.
- Describe the features of the main biochemical groupings, such as proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates.
- Describe the properties of substances that regulate biological processes, such as hormones and enzymes.
- Determine the function of nitrogen in the nitrogen cycle and other biological processes that occur in plants.
- What function does photosynthesis serve in biological systems?
- Describe the function of plant respiration.
- Describe the properties of plant transpiration and absorption.
- Describe how alkalinity and acidity affect biological systems.
- Acquire basic analytical abilities that are applicable to analysing soils and plants.
- Determine the functions and uses of biochemical procedures and outcomes.
How You Plan to Act
- Describe the chemical formulas of the eleven chemicals listed that are typically present in plants.
- Determine the proportions of the elements present in two given chemical compounds.
- Compare and contrast the properties of the main classes of biochemicals, such as: carbohydrates
- proteins
- an amino acid
- lipids
- genetic material
- Comparing monosaccharides and polysaccharides’ differences
- Provide three specific examples of biochemical processes that are particular to each type of life to
- distinguish between plant and animal biochemistry.
- Distinguish between an oil and a fat.
- Describe the properties of the protein formula in question.
- Comparing two globular proteins to two fibrous proteins
- Describe how carbohydrates are used by plants.
- Describe two business uses for lipids in the industry the student has selected.
- Describe two business uses for proteins in the industry the student has selected.
- Give the learning industry an explanation of two commercial uses for carbs.
- Differentiate between a hormone and an enzyme.
- Describe the role of a certain enzyme in a live organism.
- Describe the actions of one particular hormone in a living being.
- Describe how hormones are relevant to the industry sector of the learners.
- Describe how enzymes are relevant to the industry sector of the learners.
- Describe how plant inoculum relates to plants’ consumption of nitrogen.
- Define any necessary terms, such as:
- Nitrogen Fixation
- Ammonification
- Nitrification
- Denitrification
- Symbiotic Bacteria
- Describe how a lack of accessible nitrogen affects plant output.
- Describe the impact of an excess of accessible nitrogen on plant output.
- Contrast the signs of nitrogen deprivation in monocotyledons with dicotyledons.
- Use diagrams to analyse the nitrogen cycle.
- Educate plants and animals on the importance of the nitrogen cycle.
- Compare the development of four plants grown under various lighting conditions.
- Describe the variations between plants cultivated in various lighting situations.
- Describe the photosynthesis processes using diagrams.
- Why is photosynthesis so important to plants?
- Outline the primary metabolic steps involved in plant respiration.
- Determine the variations between aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
- Describe glycolysis, describing the series of chemical events that occur.
- Include the sequence of chemical reactions involved in your explanation of the Krebs cycle.
- Contrast the processes of mammalian and plant respiration.
- Describe the variations in plant respiration for a certain circumstance under various climate conditions.
- Define any necessary terms, such as:
- Transpiration
- Translocation
- Vapour Pressure
- Osmosis
- Evapotranspiration
- Assimilation
- Use diagrams to illustrate how water is absorbed by plants.
- Use diagrams to illustrate how nutrients are absorbed by plants.
- Conduct a little experiment to demonstrate how coloured water enters and passes through a plant.
- Describe the movement of water within a plant.
- Describe the movement of nutrients within a plant.
- Describe the role of transpiration in plants.
- Define the terms acid, alkaline, base, and neutral as they relate to pH.
- Using 4 particular examples, describe how acidity and alkalinity are regulated in various living creatures.
- buffers
- chemical reactions
- Describe how soil pH impacts the availability of nutrients to plants.
- Describe how plants react to pH variations in the soil.
- See how three different fertilisers affect the pH of the growing medium.
- Provide a specific case study of a physiological process occurring in a living organism to illustrate the effects of aberrant pH levels.
- Determine the variables that affect acidity and alkalinity in a particular case study.
- Define relevant terminology, including:
- calibration
- electroconductivity
- chromatography
- colorimeter
- indicators
- Compare chemical pH test kits with chemical pH meters, in terms of the following:
- accuracy
- ease of use
- portability
- speed
- maintenance
- calibration
- costs
- Explain the practical applications of various analytical techniques including:
- chromatography (TLC, GC)
- colorimetry
- atomic absorption
- Determine the value of analytical techniques used in industry including:
- efficiency
- accuracy
- ease of use
- Distinguish between chemical tolerance and toxicity.
- Using five different chemical compounds, discuss the consequences of LD50 properties.
- Using five different chemical compounds, discuss the ramifications of half-life properties.
- Identify the active poisons in 10 dangerous plants that are common in your area.
- Describe how two naturally occurring poisons affect the body of a human.
- Describe the purpose and application of two different plants as human or animal remedies.
- Identify three different uses for plant tissue culture.
What exactly is Biochemistry?
The chemistry of living things is called biochemistry. Anything that is living, or was previously alive, is an organism ” (a “dead” organism”). What then is the circumstance we refer to as life? Although we are unable to provide a hard, precise description, we do know that the characteristics of living creatures include metabolism, growth, and reproduction. The process of metabolism is how a body takes in (or “ingests”) different energy-rich materials from its environment (or “food”) and changes them into other substances, some of which are maintained by the body (for “growth” or “healing”) and some of which are removed. Reproduction, which includes metabolism and reproduction, is the process by which one body creates another that is identical to it in terms of its characteristics, makeup, composition, and functions.
It’s not always easy to tell an organism apart from a material. A virus is made up of particles that are several hundred Angstrom units in length or width. In a favourable environment, these particles can multiply themselves, but they are unable to consume food, develop, or engage in any other metabolic processes. So, are viruses biological things or are they chemical substances made up of big molecules that can reproduce themselves under the right circumstances? The definition of life needs to be altered in order to include viruses among the living. Anything that can create order out of chaos at the cost of energy and has the ability to maintain any unintentional differences (also known as mutations) that may develop during the process is most broadly referred to as alive.
The cell, a physical component of an organism, can be viewed as a biochemical reactor. An organism is made up of one or more cells, and in multicellular organisms, the metabolic functions of the various cell groups might differ significantly. Latin for “in the live organism,” the reactions inside the cell are referred to as in vivo, whereas the analogous reactions outside the cell are referred to as in vitro ” (Latin, “in glass). The living cell is more than just a tiny, uniform membranous beaker. Instead, it is a very complicated organism whose structure and operation are not yet fully understood. The metabolic or reproductive responding systems work at particular locations within the cell. The goal of the biochemist is to locate these places and shed light on the nature and process of the reactions that take place there. He occasionally tries to isolate a chemically reactive system from its biological setting so that it can be reproduced in vitro. He does this because reactions are typically simpler to investigate in laboratory reactors because of the more regulated settings than they are in living organisms.
The Cell’s Biochemical Process
Only an electron microscope can disclose some anatomical characteristics because they are so small. Non-essential inclusions like globules of fat or starch are some of these tiny cell structures. Others, referred to as organelles, carry out crucial tasks and divide when the cell divides. Others remain a mystery to us, while others are well recognised.
The mitochondria are elongated slipper-shaped organelles with cross sections that have a diameter of roughly 1 micron. A mitochondrion’s highly specialised structure houses about 40 enzymes that regulate a complicated series of redox processes, including the synthesis of ATP from a variety of chemical compounds. The accumulated energy can then be used for electrical work, like the action of nerve impulses, biomechanical labour like muscular contraction, and the activation of other biological events. The mitochondria have been referred regarded as the “furnace of the cell” due to these capabilities, albeit not all mechanical engineers would agree with this description.
The chlorophyll-containing organelles known as chloroplasts are found in plant cells. The endothermic process of photosynthesis, in which glucose is made from carbon dioxide, is catalysed by chlorophyll.
The location of the reproductive function is the nucleus, which is a clearly defined structure that houses the genetic material of the cell. A cell divides and then recreates itself every time. The new cells retain the capacity for self-replication, which is regularly passed down through cell generations. The consistency of this transmittal explains the persistence of species.
What can I expect from this course?
- to pursue more biochemical education.
- as a requirement for admission to higher education.
- to provide you with a thorough grasp of the biochemical processes that occur in plants, which will be helpful for individuals working in research, hydroponics, protected plant culture, etc.
