2007-2008 University of Guelph Graduate Calendar

VIII. Graduate Programs

Plant Agriculture

The MSc and PhD programs in Plant Agriculture offer specialization in the fields of crop management and physiology, crop breeding and genetics and crop biotechnology. Crop management and physiology is adaptation of scientific principles to improve performance of field and horticultural crops in a number of different types of environment. Research areas include closed environment production systems, plant water relations, plant growth regulations, optimization of yield and quality and post harvest physiology and biochemistry, breeding methodology, germplasm development and phytoremediation. Crop breeding and genetics includes techniques to develop or improve germplasm using selection procedures, improvement of methodologies in plant breeding and to develop an understanding of genes at the whole plant level. Students may also focus on plant propagation and plant cell and tissue culture. Crop biotechnology emphasizes the use of molecular biology techniques such as transformation, RFLP and RAPD's to develop novel germplasm and study gene function.