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Master’s Degree in General Biology/bioprospecting



DESCRIPTION
PPG_Bioprospec has the mission of producing scientific, technological and innovation knowledge as well as developing high level professionals for the areas of teaching and research in the field of bioprospecting. The vision of the program is to become a reference center regarding the integration of initiatives and projects which promote knowledge and the appreciation of biodiversity. 
 
Lines of research
●  Environmental services
●  Biotechnology and biotests 
 
 
SYLLABUS                                                                                      
 
Biodiversity: environmental components and services
Patterns of biodiversity, processes and underlying mechanisms. The value of biodiversity and the history of the conservation movement. Main impacts of anthropic origins on biodiversity and conservation strategies for biodiversity as a natural resource. Environmental value. Biodiversity and environmental services. Case studies involving the sustainable use of biodiversity. Class discussions about scientific papers.
 
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental history and concepts emerging in sustainability; Climate changes; Biodiversity; Ethics and citizenship; Sustainable development; Production processes and sustainability; Environmental issues from an economic perspective; The environment in the Federal Constitution and its regulations; Indicators of sustainability.
 
Teaching Internship
This discipline aims at helping graduates articulate theory and practice by approaching academic reality. Knowledge, diagnosis and analysis in educational contexts. The planning for this activity will be made through the proposition and execution of the Activity Plan for Teaching Internship. Thus, integration between theory and practice will happen through experiences and application of their knowledge. Undergraduate teaching practice. Internship activities, reflections, discussions and analysis of the situations that were experienced during the internship with theoretical basis. At the end of the activities, the Teaching Internship Report will be presented.
 
Seminars on bioprospecting
This discipline aims at training graduates for elaborating, presenting and discussing about themes regarding bioprospecting as well as their research projects. Besides, lectures will be given by invited researchers.
 
 
II. Environmental services
 
Agroecology and environmental quality
Concepts, history and principles of agroecology. Agroecological Science as a tool for the use of environmental services in the restoration of soil, biodiversity, biological balance in agroecosystems and in the healthy production of foods, fibers and raw material to create energy. Restoration of degraded areas through diversified agroforestry systems under agroecological principles.
 
Ecological anatomy of plants as an instrument for evaluating environmental stress. 
Getting and maintaining vascular plants in different habitats; phenotypic plasticity in response to different factors of stress; morphological and anatomic characterization of Cerrado plants; morphofunctional classification and characterization of secretory structures.
 
Apiculture: production, conservation and sustainability
Morfology and biology of the honey bee (Apis mellifera); Installation, management and development of apiaries; Bee products (pollination in agriculture, honey, wax, propolis, royal jelly and poison); Preparation of apiculture products for the market; Apiculture pathology, natural enemies of bees and the problem in the use of pesticides; Pollination as an element of environmental sustainability and conservation; Apiculture flora, its use and importance in the conservation and restoration of the environment; Strategies for increasing productivity of the hives (genetic improvement, hive management and restoration areas); Brazilian apiculture? Evolution and current status regarding the international market; Some recipes with bee products.
 
Bioindicators as environmental management instruments
Concepts involving bioindicators; biomonitoring systems; elaboration of projects involving the use of bioindicators; bioindicators of sustainability; evaluation of environmental impacts; global, regional and local strategies of monitoring using bioindicators.
 
Plant physiology and seedling production for native plants
Photosynthetic, respiratory and photorespiratory metabolismo and ecophysiology. Physiology of stress and the effects of temperature, water and salinity in the plant. Phytohormones and the processes of differentiation, adaptation and reproduction. Factors that interfere in sexual and assexual propagation of plants.
 
Plant micropropagation
History and concepts. Necessary infrastructure for a laboratory of tissue culture.  Micropropagation techniques. Meristem culture. Callogenesis and organogenesis.  Somatic embryogenesis. Factors that affect morphogenesis and proliferation rates. Acclimatization. Applications of micropropagation.
 
Medicinal native flora plants
Organs or parts of plants used in therapeutic processes. Phytotherapy. Main native species of medicinal use. Ethnobotany. In-situ and ex-situ conservation of medicinal plants.
 
 
 
Organic production and conservation of vegetable germplasm
Basic concepts about the organic cultivation of vegetables and about the maintenance of germplasm.  Analysis of the factors which influence non-conventional vegetable production: taro, yam, arrowroot and mangarito. Discussion about experiments about the effects of the edaphoclimatic conditions on the production of these vegetables, as well as the factors related to cultural methods, fertilization and post-harvest.
 
Environmental restoration
Ecosystem degradation processes. Fragility of microbasin subsystems. Resilience, mechanisms of succession, resistance and environmental elasticity. Principles, methods and models of ecological restoration. Mechanisms for the evaluation of conservation efficiency and ecological auto-sustainability of measures. Legal parameters defined by restoration projects.
 
 
III. Biotechnology and biotests
 
Bioprospecting applied to health
Biodiversity; Retrospective and perspectives about bioprospecting in Brazil; Integrated topics about physio-pharmacology of chronic and infectious-parasitic diseases; Molecular targets in chronic and infectious-parasitic diseases; Case studies about bioprospecting applied to health.
 
Development and evaluation of functional foods
Social importance of native species. Potential of transformation into food products. Nutritional and functional properties. Conventional and non-conventional conservation technologies. Patterns of quality and evaluation of bioactive substances.
 
Applied enzymology
Structure and properties of enzymes. Enzyme kinetics. Physical-chemical characteristics of enzymes. Bioprospecting microorganisms that produce enzymes with biotechnological potential. Fermentation processes for the production of microbial enzymes. Extraction and purification of enzymes. Immobilization of enzymes in insoluble supports. Application of enzymes in biotechnological processes.
 
Biological indicators of soil quality: use of biodiversity
The monitoring of biological indicators of soil quality can be used for defining strategies of agricultural system management that can, at medium and long term, result in a reduction in the use of fertilizers and pesticides through the optimized use of biological resources. Besides, this monitoring can subsidize studies about the impact of agricultural systems on physical-chemical properties, nutrient cycling and the dynamics of organic matter in the soil.
 
 
Molecular methods applied to biodiversity and conservation
Introduction to Molecular Biology: molecular markers and their classes. Molecular techniques, sequencing, microarray, advantages and disadvantages, analysis of the data obtained by markers in the determination of genetic variability. Evolution genetic analysis based on polymorphism of PCR-amplified DNA fragments and segments and its applicability in taxonomy. Estimative of genetic similarity and distance. Application of molecular markers in biodiversity studies: conservation of species.
 
Biostatistics
Definition of science and culture. The importance of experimental design in the development of science. Scientific hypothesis and the Popper’s philosophy. Construction of null models, independent observations, pseudo-repetitions and inferential statistics. Introduction to linear, non-linear and multivariate models.
 
Bioethics
Concept of ethics and moral. Origin and evolution of bioethics. Different conceptions about bioethics. Principles of bioethics. Ethics in research. Environmental ethics. The environment as a human right. Critical analysis of situations that involve stopping, altering or prolonging life. Buying, selling and renting parts of the human body. Human dignity. Case studies.
 
IV. Disciplines of curricular flexibility
 
Special topics I
Non-regularly offered discipline, taught by visiting professors and researchers or by professors from UFGD. It can be concentrated or not. Varying content which shall include themes and methods which are important to the general education of graduates and which are not studied in regular disciplines of the program.
 
Special topics II
Non-regularly offered discipline, taught by visiting professors and researchers or by professors from UFGD. It can be concentrated or not. Varying content which shall include themes and methods which are important to the general education of graduates and which are not studied in regular disciplines of the program.
 


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