Module Metabolic biotechnology and plant improvement module

Domestication of plants. Traditional breeding and molecular marker-assisted breeding. Introgression of traits in crops of agronomic interest. QTL and GWAS.
General concepts on secondary metabolism in plants. Metabolic pathways (phenols, terpenoids, alkaloids, glucosinolates) and their metabolic engineering to obtain improved crops. Lipids. Plant metabolomics: Study of metabolic profiles in plants to characterize metabolic phenotypes of biotechnological interest. Applications of plant proteomics and metabolomics to the study of plant growth and development. Integration of proteomic and metabolomic data in the development of crops improved in agronomic traits and nutritional quality.
Cell wall: advanced methods of analysis. Cell wall modification for improvement of growth and resistance to stress, cell wall polysaccharides of food interest. Cell wall-modifying enzymes and protein inhibitors, expression of enzymes and inhibitors in plants for technological applications in the food sector. Dietary fibers. Biologically active poly/oligosaccharides of plant origin: biological properties, mechanism of action as pesticides and prebiotics.
Applications of metabolic engineering to obtain new molecules of industrial interest. Examples of molecular farming: production of antibodies, vaccines and metabolites of biomedical interest in plants. Crop improvement by genetic engineering. Plants with higher productivity. Improved plants for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses

Module MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES IN THE PRODUCTION AND CONTROL OF FOOD QUALITY

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY-BASIC PRINCIPLES: promoters, transcription; gene expression methodologies
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES: PCR; Quantitative Real Time PCR; genome sequencing; database generation
GMO GENERATION-BASIS: Expression of heterologous genes in plants. Commercial GMO plants:BT and Roundup ready. New technologies: CRISPR-CAS9. Exhamination of specific projects in the class.
GMO PLANTS REGULATION: European and Italian regulation for GMO and Crispr-CAS9 plants
FOOD CONTROL: Molecular methodologies for the analysis of the origin, identity and traceability of food. Sampling and molecular methods for the analysis of crops or GMO food. Examples and databases.
RESULTS DISSEMINATION: methodologies for results dissemination; methodologies for risk assessment evaluation of a grant proposal for agri-food; methodologies for writing a grant proposal in agri-food.

- Teaching material provided through E-Learning (articles, reviews, lectures slides);
- Biotecnologie Sostenibili - Galbiati et al. – EDAGRICOLE
- Biotecnologie e Genomica delle Piante - Rao e Leone - Idelson-Gnocchi (acronimo BGP)
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants, - Buchanan, Gruissem e Jones, 2° ed., Wiley Blackwell