Program Overview

Molecular, Cellular, and Genomic Botany Option

The Molecular, Cellular, and Genomic Botany Option is designed for Botany undergraduates with career interests in molecular, cellular, and genomic biology. This option provides a curriculum that offers specialized knowledge and skills for work and graduate school.

Overview

This option is available within the Botany major at the Corvallis location. The curriculum is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in molecular, cellular, and genomic botany, preparing them for careers in research, industry, or further education.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, students will meet the following learning outcomes:

• Communicate scientific concepts, experimental results, and analytical arguments clearly and concisely verbally and in writing.
• Apply scientific methods, reasoning, and appropriate mathematics to describe, explain, and understand biological systems.
• Demonstrate understanding of five core concepts in biology: evolution; pathways and transformations of energy and matter; information flow, exchange, and storage; structure and function; and biological systems.
• Use interdisciplinary approaches (applying chemistry and quantitative skills) to work on biological problems.
• Describe the complex networks of interactions that determine energy flow and the cycling of water, carbon, nitrogen, and minerals within ecosystems.
• Identify and analyze the anatomical and morphological features of plants and plant structures as they enable plant function and reveal plant evolutionary histories.
• Recognize and describe the features of vascular plant groups using standard botanical terminology. Interpret the evolutionary and phylogenetic relationships of plants by evaluating analytical and experimental tools used to understand organismal diversity.
• Incorporate information from physiology, genetics, developmental biology, biochemistry, and genomics to explain how plants integrate water-relations, mineral and organic nutrition, solute transport, respiration, and photosynthesis, hormonal and environmental signals to regulate the processes of growth and reproduction.
• Describe and implement laboratory methods typically used in plant biology.

Requirements

In addition to the general Botany curriculum, the MCG option requires:

• 6 credits of advanced background courses in biochemistry and biocomputing
• A choice of two advanced BOT courses in plant genomics and biochemistry
• A choice of 3 courses drawn from a menu of advanced BOT, BI, BB, or MB courses in cell biology, molecular biology, and genomics
• Up to 3 credits of approved Experiential Learning can be applied to the option
• Other courses may be substituted for list C with approval of a BOT advisor

Course List

The following courses are required or optional for the MCG option:

Required Courses

• BB 451: General Biochemistry (3 credits)
• BDS 310: Foundations of Biological Data Sciences (4 credits)

Advanced Plant Molecular, Cellular & Genomic Botany

• Select at least two courses from the following:
  • BDS 474: Introduction to Genome Biology
  • BDS 475: Comparative Genomics
  • BDS 477/BOT 477: Population Genomics
  • BDS 478: Functional Genomics
  • BOT 480: Photosynthesis and Photobiology

Additional Courses

• Select at least 9 credits from the following:
  • BB 315: Molecular Biology Laboratory
  • BB 460: Advanced Cell Biology
  • BB 481: Macromolecular Structure
  • BB 485: Applied Bioinformatics
  • BB 486: Advanced Molecular Genetics
  • BI 454: Evolutionary Genomics
  • BI 456: Phylogenetics
  • BDS 472: Advanced Computing for Biological Data Analysis
  • BDS 474: Introduction to Genome Biology (if not used above)
  • BDS 475: Comparative Genomics (if not used above)
  • BDS 477/BOT 477: Population Genomics (if not used above)
  • BDS 478: Functional Genomics (if not used above)
  • BOT 480: Photosynthesis and Photobiology (if not used above)
  • MB 420: Microbial Genome Evolution and Biodiversity
• Up to 3 credits of approved Experiential Learning (e.g., BOT 401)
• Other courses with advisor approval

Total Credits

The total credits required for the MCG option are 22-23 credits.