Mineral Nutrition: From Plants to Humans

Catalog description

Plants provide almost all essential minerals for humans and therefore plants are critical components of the human diet. Plant biologists address challenges of meeting the nutritional needs of the increasing world's population by studying plants' ability to uptake, translocate and accumulate mineral nutrients in edible tissues. By integrating basic plant biology with molecular breeding and genomics approaches, fundamental discoveries are utilized to have the greatest impact on solving biofortification of plant-based foods. This team-taught course explores the mechanisms of acquisition of mineral nutrients from the soil, translocation and accumulation in plant tissues, strategies to prevent mineral element deficiencies while avoiding their overload, and toxicity of noxious metals. Selected lectures focus on the relation between the nutrient status of plants and human nutrition and health. Graduate students will have assignments for in-depth learning of each topic. Examination questions will differ for graduate students to evaluate assigned material. Graduate students will write a paper for one of the topics and present it in class.