The department of plant and microbial biology is an

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

department in the

Rausser College of Natural Resources The Rausser College of Natural Resources (CNR), or Rausser College, is the oldest college at the University of California, Berkeley and in the University of California system. Established in 1868 as the College of Agriculture under the federal Mo ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. The department conducts extensive research, provides undergraduate and graduate programs, and educates students in the fields of plant and microbial sciences with 43 department faculty members. The plant biology program focuses on contemporary basic plant research and design of biotechnologies. New discoveries have broadened the understanding of plant development and function, and provided tools for engineering plants that produce novel new crops, with better resistance to disease and insects. With an increasing awareness of environmental problems, global changes, and emerging food needs, plants have emerged as a focal point for new research initiatives and educational training programs. The department established the division of microbial biology to understand the microbial world to comprehend the global ecosystem, evolutionary history, and diversity of life on earth. The twenty-first century brings a new understanding of the workings of the global ecosystem and a wealth of new technologies derived from the microbial world. The department also offers an extensive public education program as part of the California Cooperative Extension Service. As the key research and training program of the Agricultural Experiment Station in the California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, this division operates at a strategic location near California’s major agricultural production centers and within the San Francisco Bay Area, a hub for innovative biotechnology. Plant biology's partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture's Plant Gene Expression Center offers a model for successful collaborations between the University and other government agencies. Research is largely funded through grants from the

National Institute of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1 ...

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

and

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

. Extensive research is conducted Koshland Hall on the UC Berkeley campus and the nearby Energy Biosciences Institute, which is directed by a PMB faculty member. The department also utilizes the fields and greenhouses of the nearby Oxford Tract for research. Students in the undergraduate division graduate with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

. The Graduate division offers

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

degrees and opportunities for students to participate in

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

. The department headquarters along with many faculty offices and laboratories are located in Koshland Hall. The

Biological Imaging Biological imaging may refer to any imaging technique used in biology. Typical examples include: * Bioluminescence imaging, a technique for studying laboratory animals using luminescent protein * Calcium imaging, determining the calcium status of a ...

Facility, in Koshland Hall provides instructional and research support for modern biological light microscopy including laser scanning,

confocal In geometry, confocal means having the same foci: confocal conic sections. * For an optical cavity consisting of two mirrors, confocal means that they share their foci. If they are identical mirrors, their radius of curvature, ''R''mirror, equals ' ...

and

deconvolution In mathematics, deconvolution is the operation inverse to convolution. Both operations are used in signal processing and image processing. For example, it may be possible to recover the original signal after a filter (convolution) by using a deco ...

microscopy, computer image processing and analysis,

FISH Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, and immunolocalization. The Genetics and Plant Biology building, situated on the northwest side of the campus, was built in 1999. It is the main teaching site for lectures and laboratory courses offered by the plant and microbial biology department. Research strengths in the plant and microbial biology department are in the areas of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

and

microbial A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

cell biology Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living and ...

and

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

. The department grants undergraduate degrees in: microbial biology, genetics and plant biology. Graduate degrees are offered in

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and

plant biology Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. Many faculty in the department conduct research on plant-microbe interactions. The faculty and graduate students also cooperate with faculty from other UC Berkeley departments, such as the molecular and cell biology department, on researches pertaining to plant genetics and microbial biology. Plant Gene Expression Center

References

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External links

Department of plant and microbial biology
University of California, Berkeley Science and technology in the San Francisco Bay Area