To impart to students the fundamental concepts and current information on the physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology of host-pathogen interactions in plant disease.

No text is required. General reference books are placed on reserve in the library; each lecture is based on original papers or reprints of scientific articles.

The course is open to graduate students in plant pathology and related disciplines. Advanced undergraduate students may enroll with the consent of the instructor. Students should have a thorough knowledge of the materials covered in the following UCD courses or their equivalent; Biological Sciences (BIS) 101, 102, 103, 104; Plant Biology 111; Plant Pathology 120.

Three 1-hour lectures and one 1-hour discussion per week. For each lecture, reading assignments of published papers are made. Grades are based on written assignments, quizzes, a term paper and final examination. In the discussion section, students will participate with the instructor in critical evaluations of current literature in the field.

1. Concepts of parasitism and plant disease
2. Prepenetration factors
3. Penetration factors
4. Predisposition of plants to disease
5. Compatibility and specificity in host-pathogen interactions
6. Molecular genetics of disease resistance
7. Host metabolism and induced susceptibility
8. Host metabolism and disease resistance
9. Gene expression in host response to infection
10. Molecular and biochemical basis of pathogenicity
11. Extrachromosomal virulence factors
12. Microbial toxins as disease determinants