ESRM 404: Plant Microbiology Lab
THIS COURSE WILL OFFERED AGAIN IN SPRING QUARTER 2025
5 credits; WF 9:00 AM-11:50 AM in WFS 107
$52 additional course fee req’d to cover costs of lab supplies and sequencing
Course Overview: The course will introduce the broad topic of plant microbiology and then focus on measuring the impacts of beneficial microorganisms on plants. In addition, microorganisms will be characterized in terms of symbiotic traits such as provision of nutrients (N and P) and the ability to colonize plants, as well as a molecular analysis of the strains. Each class period will begin with a short lecture on the experiments for that period.
Learning Goals/Objectives: The students will learn a variety of valuable laboratory skills and gain an appreciation for the importance of plant microbe symbioses. Basic microbiology skills including making media, pouring plates, streaking strains for single colony isolation, inoculating broth, measuring optical density, and introducing fluorescent markers via conjugation will be taught. Nitrogen (N) fixation ability will be assessed since N is often the growth-limiting nutrient for plants. Phosphate solubilization and siderophore production will also be assayed as they are common characteristics of plant-associated microorganisms. Basic molecular biology skills including colony PCR, electrophoresis, and sequence analysis will be taught for identification of bacterial species. In addition, bioinformatics methods will be introduced. Plants will be inoculated with the bacterial strains and the impact on abiotic stress tolerance will be assessed.
Required Readings: The students will be required to read reviews and specific scientific papers relating to the labs. These will be provided on our Canvas website. There will be no required text book.
Evaluation and Grading: Participation in each lab class period is required. Grading will be based on written lab reports. These should outline the experiments, purpose of the lab, materials and methods, results, and discussion. Pre-lab assignments will be assessed throughout the quarter (25% of grade).