BIOL366

Description

Section information text: This course explores the role of chemical compounds in mediating interactions between organisms. Through a mixture of lectures, labs and discussions, we will examine the diversity of species interactions, the structure and function of chemical compounds that mediate these interactions, and the methods used to detect these compounds. Examples will include defensive and offensive chemistry mediating antagonistic interactions in plants, insects and microorganisms; the evolution of defenses; chemicals mediating mutualisms, competition, sociality, and sexual selection; and how chemical ecology affects humans. This course will include paper discussions of relevant recent literature, exposure to laboratory techniques in chemical ecology, and a final project on a chemically mediated interaction.