COURSE SYNOPSIS:

This course is divided into two components; taxonomy and plant phylogenetics. Within taxonomy discussion will focus on the nomenclature, the five kingdoms classification, and taxonomic concept. This course also discusses the application of taxonomic keys. Chemotaxonomy and molecular taxonomy or field of study that utilizes chemical and genetic evidences for classificatory purposes will also be discussed.  The information from breeding system, plant geography and ecology including the hybridizing species, isolation mechanism, patterns of geographical distribution, concepts of disjunction and vicariance, biogeographical hypothesis and ecological differentiation will also be emphasized. Principles and procedures for conducting numerical taxonomy or phenetic analysis will be highlighted. Evolutionary relationships between species from the phylogenetic method will also be emphasized based on character and distance based characters. The application of DNA sequence for constructing phylogenetic trees will also be given. 

Skill Level: Beginner