WHAT ARE THE BRANCHES OF BOTANY? - BIOLOGY - 2024

The branches of botany are phytochemistry, cell biology, histology, plant pathology, phytogeography, geobotany, and paleobotany. Botanics is the scientific study of plants.

"Plants", for most people, means a wide range of living organisms from the smallest bacteria to the largest living things like giant sequoia trees.

By this definition plants include: algae, fungi, lichens, mosses, ferns, conifers, and flowering plants. Because the field is so wide, there are many types of plant biologists and many different opportunities available.

Botanists interested in ecology study the interactions of plants with other organisms and the environment.

Other field botanists seek to find new species or do experiments to discover how plants grow under different conditions. Some botanists study the structure of plants. They can work in the field, concentrating on the pattern of the entire plant.

Many botanists do experiments to determine how plants convert simple chemical compounds into more complex chemicals. They can even study how genetic information in DNA controls plant development.

The importance of botany is that the results of its research increase and improve the supply of medicines, foods, fibers, building materials and other plant products.

Conservationists use botanical knowledge to help manage parks, forests, ranges, and wilderness areas.

Main branches of botany

Due to its breadth of study areas, botany develops in various branches with different applications and various study methods. Here are the main branches of botany.

Phytochemistry

Phytochemistry is the study of phytochemicals, which are chemicals derived from plants.

Scholars of phytochemistry attempt to describe the structures of the large number of secondary metabolic compounds found in plants, the functions of these compounds in human and plant biology, and the biosynthesis of these compounds.

Plants synthesize phytochemicals for many reasons, including to protect against insect attacks and plant diseases.

Phytochemicals in food plants are often active in human biology, and in many cases they have health benefits.

Phytochemistry can be considered a branch of botany or chemistry. Activities can be conducted in botanical gardens or in a wild setting.

The applications of the discipline can be for pharmacognosy, the discovery of new drugs, or as an aid for studies of plant physiology.

Cell biology

Cell biology is a branch of botany and biology that studies the different structures and functions of the cell and focuses primarily on the idea of ​​the cell as the basic unit of life.

Cell biology explains the structure, organization of the organelles they contain, their physiological properties, metabolic processes, signaling pathways, life cycle and interactions with their environment.

This is done at both the microscopic and molecular level, as it encompasses prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells.

Knowing the components of cells and how cells work is fundamental to all life sciences. It is also essential for research in biomedical fields such as cancer and other diseases.

Research in cell biology is closely related to genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, and developmental biology.

Histology

Histology is the study of the microscopic anatomy (microanatomy) of cells and tissues of plants and animals.

It is commonly performed by examining cells and tissues under a light microscope or electron microscope, after the sample has been sectioned, stained, and mounted on a microscope slide.

Histological studies can be performed using tissue culture, where living human, animal, or plant cells are isolated and kept in an artificial environment for various research projects.

The ability to differentially visualize or identify microscopic structures is frequently enhanced by the use of histological stains. Histology is an essential tool in botany, biology, and medicine.

Phytopathology

Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors).

Organisms that cause infectious diseases include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like organisms, phytoplasmas, protozoa, nematodes, and parasitic plants.

Ectoparasites such as insects, mites, vertebrates or other pests that affect plant health due to the consumption of plant tissues are not included.

Plant pathology also involves the study of pathogen identification, disease etiology, disease cycles, economic impact, epidemiology of plant diseases, resistance to plant diseases, the way in which plant diseases affect humans and animals.

Phytogeography

Botanical geography, also known as phytogeography, is the branch of biogeography and botany that deals with the geographical distribution of plant species and their influence on the surface of the earth.

Phytogeography deals with all aspects of plant distribution, from controls over the distribution of individual species (both large and small scales) to factors that govern the composition of communities and entire floras.

Geobotany

Geobotany looks at the living conditions under which various taxa and plant communities grow, how individual organisms adapt to local conditions, and the type of survival strategies they pursue.

The methodical diversity of this discipline also reflects the multitude of habitats to be investigated.

The applied methods range, for example, from the most diverse techniques of hydrochemical and chemical analysis of the soil to a plethora of morphological differentiation of tissues and analytical methods of plants.

Paleobotany

Paleobotany is a branch of botany that encompasses the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts and their use for the biological reconstruction of ancient environments (paleogeography), as well as the evolutionary history of plants and their relationship with evolution. of life in general.

References

1. John T. Arnason; Rachel Mata; John T. Romeo (2013-11-11). "Phytochemistry of Medicinal Plants". Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781489917782.
2. Bold, HC (1977). The Plant Kingdom (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-680389-X.
3. Braselton, JP (2013). "What is Plant Biology?" Ohio University. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
4. Lodish, Harvey (2013). Molecular Cell Biology. WH Freeman and Company. ISBN 978-1-4292-3413-9.
5. Bracegirdle, Brian. The History of Histology: A Brief Survey of Sources. History of Science 15 (2), 77-101,.
6. Citrus, George N. (1972). Plant Pathology (3rd ed.). Academic Press.
7. Brown, JH & Lomolino, MV 1998. Biogeography. 2nd edition. Chapter 1.
8. Cleal, Christopher J.; Lazarus, Maureen; Townsend, Annette (2005). "Illustrations and illustrators during the 'Golden Age' of palaeobotany: 1800–1840". In Bowden, AJ; Burek, CV; Wilding, R. History of palaeobotany: selected essays. London: Geological Society of London. p. 41. ISBN 9781862391741.