HRT 812: Laboratory Research Techniques

Course Code: HRT 812

Credits and Offerings

  • 2 credits (approximately 2 hour lectures and  2 hour lab each week)
  • Fall semester each odd year.
  • Open to Horticulture students. Permission from the Horticulture department is required for students from other departments.

Course description

Demonstration and experience of various research techniques in horticulture. To be taught by multiple instructors.

Course objectives

To allow graduate students to be familiar with research techniques in horticulture and to promote interaction between graduate students and faculty members

Topics

  • Plant growth in controlled environment
  • Seed germination, dormancy, and viability assessment
  • Methods for assessing temperature stress
  • Application of plant hormone to improve fruit quality
  • Photosynthetic gas exchange
  • Measurement of water potential
  • X-ray computed tomography and topological data analysis of plant morphology
  • Spectrometry,  gas chromatography (GC), mass spectrum, HPLC , and Olfactometry
  • DNA and RNA extraction
  • Plant transformation and micro-propagation
  • Basic sequence analysis techniques
  • Third generation sequencing and analysis

Instructor