PlantMolecular Biology and Genomics is a course is about genes - their structure andfunction at the molecular level.  Theobjective is to give you a firm and rigorous foundation in understanding geneexpression and its regulation.  We willbegin with a review of structure of protein and nucleic acid, and the physicaland chemical properties that drive interactions of protein with nucleicacid.  Then we will study methods andtechnologies applied to study genes. Next, we will study the molecular mechanics of DNA replication, DNAdamage repair, transcription in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, withan emphasis on how the activity of genes is regulated at the molecular levelthrough nucleic acid-protein interactions. Lastly, genomics and systems biologywill also be introduced and we will review advances in genomics projects thatare altering our understanding of molecular biology.