Plant Science

1. Importance of Plant
Science in 21st
Century
DH SANI
GEB, SUST.

2. Plant Science
• Plant Science is the study of the structure, functions, growth and
protection of plants.
• Plant Science can be divided into three major segments –
Agronomy
Horticulture
Forestry

3. Objectives of Plant Science
• To make understand the basic structure and function of the tissues,
organs and organ system of the plants.
• To explore the possibilities of increasing yield in crops.
• To conduct basic genetic studies of important traits in different crops.
• To screen phytochemical composition of medicinal plant.

4. History of Plant Science
 1920 – Photoperiodism is Discovered
While studying the induction of flowering in tobacco and soybean,
W.W. Garner and H.A. Allard discovers photoperiodism.
1922 – Agar Germinates Orchid Seeds
Lewis Knudson devises a method to germinate orchid seeds on sterile
nutrient agar.
1926 – Went Isolates Auxin
F.W. Went isolates a plant growth substance (auxin). Two years later he
develops a method to quantify the substance

5. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1928 – The first Quantitative Measurements of Chlorophyll
F. M. Shertz provides the first quantitative measurements of chlorophyll.
1929 – Triploid Maize Chromosomes are Characterized
Barbara McClintock characterizes triploid maize chromosomes.
1931 – Correlation between Chromosomal Crossover and Genetic Traits
Barbara McClintock and Harriet Creighton prove the link between
chromosomal crossover during meiosis and the recombination of genetic
traits.

6. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1931 – First Genetic Map for Maize
Barbara McClintock publishes the first genetic map for maize, linking
regions of the chromosome to physical traits.
1935 – Tobacco Mosaic Virus Isolated
Wendell Stanley isolates the tobacco mosaic virus.
• 1937 – The “Hill Reaction” is Established
Robin Hill demonstrates oxygen evolution by cell-free chloroplasts
(grana). His work leads to discovery of the “Hill reaction”.

7. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
• 1938 – Flowering Stimulus Moves Through Plant
Researchers, among them Mikhail Chailakhyan, Karl Hamner and James
Bonner, show the flowering stimulus, induced by photoperiod, moves
through the plant and across a graft union.
1941 – Phloem Transport
T.G. Mason and E. Phillis describe the mechanism of phloem transport.
1951 – Dwarfing Gene in Wheat Discovered
Orville Vogel introduces a dwarfing gene into wheat. This work led to
improved grain yields.

8. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1954 – Light-driven Synthesis of ATP
Daniel Arnon, Mary Belle Allen and F.R. Whatley publish the first
demonstration of direct, light-driven synthesis of ATP by isolated
chloroplasts and photophosphorylation in chloroplasts.
1959 – A Protein is Purified from a Dark-brown Plant
plants that is photoreversible on sequential red and far-red
illumination. The action spectrum matches anthocyanin production,
light-induced seed germination, and photoperiodism.

9. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1961 – The Role of Senescence is Defined
A.C. Leopold describes the role of senescence in plant development.
1962 – Culture Medium Created for Optimal Growth of Plant Tissues
Toshio Murashige and Folke Skoog create a culture medium of defined
composition designed for the optimal growth of plant tissues.
1964 – Synthetic Growth Regulators
H.M. Cathey describes synthetic growth regulators.
1966 – C4 Photosynthesis
Hugo Kortschak discovers C4 photosynthesis.

10. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1967 – Characterized RNA from Cytokinin-containing Tissue
J. Eugene Fox and Chong-Maw Chen characterize RNA from cytokinin-
containing tissue.
1970 – Father of the “Green Revolution,” Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Plant breeder and father of the “Green Revolution,” Norman Borlaug wins
the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to develop improved, high-yield wheat
varieties for Mexico.
1976 – Gene Cloning Establishes New Concepts in Plant Biology
Plant genomes investigated by quantitative DNA reassociation tools such
as Cot curves.

11. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1977 – The Revolution in Plant Genetic Engineering Begins
Mary-Dell Chilton, Marc Van Montagu and Robert Fraley show that
Agrobacterium tumafaciens T-DNA was integrated into the chromosomes of
plant cells, setting the stage for the revolution in plant genetic engineering.
1978 – USDA Competitive Research Grants Program Commences
USDA Competitive Research Grants Program begins with Joe Key as first
director.
1983 – A Vector in Genetic Transformation of Plants
L.W. Ream, M.P. Gordon and E. W. Nester bioengineer the tumor-inducing
plasmid of the crown gall bacterium (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) which
begins to serve as a vector in genetic transformation of plants.

12. (History of Plant Science Cont.)
1983 – Tobacco is the First Genetically Engineered Organism
Tobacco is the first eukaryotic organism that is stably and reproducibly
transformed using genetic engineering.
1986 – Entire Chloroplast Genome is Sequenced
Entire chloroplast genome of Marchantia polymorpha and Nicotiana
tabacum sequenced opening the way for further studies of chloroplast
gene expression, genome organization and evolution.
1989 – Flavr Savr Tomato Introduced to FDA
Calgene Corporation initiates discussions with U.S. FDA regarding Flavr
Savr tomato, engineered to provide extended shelf-life.

13. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1990 – Biotechnology Enables Allergens to be Removed from Food
Research by Bob Buchanan leads to discovery of a new type of
biotechnology to remove certain allergens from foods.
1994 – Plants to Clean up Toxic Metal Wastes
Rufus Chaney is the first U.S. researcher to publish data on
phytoremediation, the practice of using plants to clean up toxic metal
wastes.
1996 – The Entire Arabidopsis Genome is Sequenced
A multinational consortium funds the sequencing of the entire
Arabidopsis genome.

14. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
1998 – Genetically Engineered Food to Deliver a Pharmaceutical
Potatoes, genetically engineered by Charles Arntzen and Hugh Mason, are used
in the first ever clinical trial of a genetically engineered food to deliver a
pharmaceutical.
2000 – Arabidopsis genome sequencing completed
Arabidopsis genome sequencing completed, one year prior to completion of the
human genome.
2005 – International Rice Genome Sequencing Project Publishes DNA
Blueprint for Rice
A consortium led by the University of California, Davis initiates research to
advance technology that rapidly identify genes that may produce higher quality
wheat.

15. History of Plant Science (Cont.)
2007 – Nanotechnology Penetrates Plant Cell Walls
Kan Wang, Victor Lin, Brian Trewyn and Francois Torney demonstrate the
first use of nanotechnology to penetrate plant.
2010 – The Global Plant Council Forms
The Global Plant Council formed by a coalition of plant and crop science
societies around the world to address global issues that involve plant
biology and to provide policy makers with scientific information to make
decisions on these topics.
2013 – Unleashing a Decade of Innovation in Plant Science: A Vision for
2015-2025
The Plant Science Research Summit publishes Unleashing a Decade of
Innovation in Plant Science: A Vision for 2015-2025.

16. Plant Science Application
• Agroforestry
• Agronomy and crop physiology
• Commercial crop science
• Food and markets
• Planning for personal and professional development
• Plant disease management

17. Challenges in Plant Science
• Reduction in plant diversity
• Extinction of plant species
• Increased population
• Decreased cultivable land

18. Conclusion
• Plant Science provides knowledge about plant anatomy and
physiology.
• It defines agronomical, horticultural and forestry crops and their uses.
• It shows the potential uses of plants.

19. References
• Cermak, T., Doyle, E. L., Christian, M., Wang, L., Zhang, Y., Schmidt, C., Baller, J. A.,
Somia, N. V., Bogdanove, A. J., and Voytas, D. F. (2011). Efficient design and assembly of
custom TALEN and other TAL effector-based constructs for DNA targeting. Nucleic Acids
Res. 39, e82.
• Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text
• Colbert, T., Till, B. J., Tompa, R., Reynolds, S., Steine, M. N., Yeung, A. T., McCallum, C.
M., Comai, L., and Henikoff, S. (2001). High-throughput screening for induced point
mutations. Plant Physiol. 126, 480–484.
• Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text
• Cornish, K., Pan, Z., and Backhaus, R. A. (1993). “Engineering new domestic sources of
rubber,” in New Crops, eds J. Janick and J. E. Simon (New York: Wiley), 192–196.
• Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text
• Geigenberger, P., Riewe, D., and Fernie, A. R. (2009). The central regulation of plant
physiology by adenylates. Trends Plant Sci. 15, 98–105.