Academic Staff
Program Information
The Department of Plant Science is one of seven departments in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and draws together expertise in both the applied and basic sciences. Since its origin in 1937, the Department has maintained a leading role in agricultural research in Canada. Its achievements in rapeseed and canola breeding and in cereal breeding and cytogenetics are known world-wide. Faculty members have major research programs in agronomy and plant protection, horticulture, plant breeding and genetics, and plant physiology-biochemistry (elaborated below). The graduate program of coursework offers considerable choice to the student and is based mainly on the student's primary interests and previous scholarly training. In general, a series of graduate courses in the student's chosen field offered by the Department of Plant Science is required for the major credit. A wide range of courses in ancillary fields (e.g., botany, chemistry, statistics, soils, etc.) may be chosen to complete the graduate coursework.
Fields of Research
Programs of study and research are offered in the following areas, leading to the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees.
Agronomy and Plant Protection: Cropping systems research with emphasis on resource use efficiency and sustainability; annual and perennial crop agronomy including rotational benefits of traditional and novel legumes; self-regenerating cover crops; long term organic vs conventional crop production systems. Farming systems; salinity; erosion mitigation in organic production through crop rotation; late- and early-season resource use of cover crops; forage seed production; soybean fertility; agricultural technology transfer between analogous zones (Canada and the former Soviet Union). Weed science and agronomy; weed seedling ecology and recruitment biology; transgene confinement and coexistence of GM and non-GM crops; pesticide-free production (PFP); cultural and herbicidal weed control. Canola and wheat pathology: breeding for disease resistance; applied and molecular approaches to understanding the epidemiology of plant pathogens; biological control and mode of action by antagonists on plant pathogens; isolation, identification and characterization of antibiotics, organic volatiles, pathogen degrading enzymes, PR-genes and defense-related compounds from plants; microbial interactions in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere; IPM in sustainable agricultural systems. Genetics of host-parasite interactions in leaf spot diseases of wheat, with emphasis on tan spot and septoria leaf blotch; breeding for disease resistance; epidemiology and control of potato diseases; diseases of pulse crops; application of image analysis to disease quantification; development of research and educational software. Understanding the biochemical and moecular mechanisms of pathogenesis and of plant defense reactions to microbial infections; bio-control: use of natural products and beneficial microorganisms to induce plant resistance to pathogens.
Horticulture: Morphology and development of woody horticultural plants and the role of cultural management factors; analysis and modelling of shoot ontogeny and crown architecture; management of saskatoons.
Plant Breeding and Genetics: Wheat breeding and genetics; modelling crop development and yield; genetics of resistance to leaf spotting diseases; development and evaluation of breeding methodologies; genetics of herbicide resistance; development of Fusarium Head Blight resistant germplasm. Hybrid and conventional cultivar canola/rapeseed breeding; herbicide resistant canola/rapeseed breeding; agronomy and genetic studies in canola/rapeseed. Breeding for special oil quality in canola/rapeseed; application of biotechnology in canola breeding. Plant genomics and molecular biology; genetic and transcriptome mapping, gene profiling and cloning; construction of high density SRAP maps and molecular marker development; cloning of genes involved in the pathways of glucosinolates and fatty acids, and for disease resistance and male sterility in Brassica crops. Gene expression in plants during resistant or susceptible interactions with fungal or bacterial pathogens; evolution and differential regulation of multigene families; genetic engineering of disease resistance; bioinformatics.
Plant Physiology-Biochemistry: Biochemical and molecular analyses of host-fungal pathogen interactions in wheat with emphasis on tan spot disease; fungal toxin structure and mode of action. Biochemistry and physiology of anaerobic stress in cereals; biochemistry and molecular biology of abscisic acid metabolism in cereals; cereal germination physiology and biochemistry. Physiology and molecular biology of embryo development in-vivo and in-vitro; improvement of embryo quality and plant regeneration of both angiosperm and gymnosperm species through tissue culture techniques; nucleotide and nucleic acid metabolism during morphogenesis; analysis of cell wall components during induction of lignin in culture.
There is a wide range of employment opportunities for M.Sc. and Ph.D. graduates from the Department of Plant Science, including research and teaching positions at universities throughout the world, research and extension positions with the federal and provincial governments and positions in private industry.
Research Facilities
The Department of Plant Science has excellent research facilities including well-equipped laboratories, ample greenhouse space and controlled-environment chambers, and a horticultural-research storage building. A 60 hectare field research station is situated on campus within walking distance of the Plant Science Building. As well the Department has a 165 hectare field-research station located at Carman on prime agricultural soil.
M.Sc. in Plant Science
Admission
Admission requirements are those of the Faculty of Graduate Studies found in the Graduate Studies Regulations Section of this Calendar.
Admission Deadlines
Canadian/U.S. students should submit their application and supporting documentation to the Department at least 3 months prior to their intended start date. International students should submit their application and supporting documentation to the Department at least 7 months prior to their intended start date.
Program Requirements
Research and thesis
A minimum of 15 credit hours of coursework (including 039.725 Plant Science Seminar) of which at least 6 credit hours will be courses at the 700 level. The 6 credit hours at the 700 level cannot include 039.725 Plant Science Seminar or 035.750 Methodology in Agricultural and Food Sciences.
Second language reading requirement: none
Expected time to graduation: two years
Ph.D. in Plant Science
Admission
Admission requirements are those of the Faculty of Graduate Studies found in the Graduate Studies Regulations Section of this Calendar.
Admission Deadlines
Canadian/U.S. students should submit their application and supporting documentation to the Department at least 3 months prior to their intended start date. International students should submit their application and supporting documentation to the Department at least 7 months prior to their intended start date.
Program Requirements
Minimum Program requirements of the Faculty of Graduate Studies are found in the Graduate Studies Regulations Section of this Calendar. In addition, students must take 039.742 Advanced Plant Science Seminar for which they must register each year of their Ph.D. program. The 12 credit hours at the 700 level cannot include 035.750 Methodology in Agricultural and Food Sciences.
Second language reading requirement: none
Expected time to graduation: three years
Course Descriptions
