The School of Plant Sciences is a vigorous, cutting-edge, and comprehensive academic unit of the University of Arizona, whose scientists are devoted to the study of plants, the organisms that underpin the survival of terrestrial life. Research programs within the School examine how plants grow, how they respond to their environment, how they evolved, how they can be manipulated, and their fungal, bacterial, and viral interactions. These studies are done at various levels -- from the chemical reactions and molecules fundamental to all life, to the roles plants play in ecosystems, whether controlled or under natural conditions. Plants are also studied from the viewpoint of basic research,  from the viewpoint of applied research, including crop production, protection, and improvement, and from the viewpoint of addressing directed societal goals, such as biofuels, enhanced nutrition, and the discovery of biomedicinal  compounds.    more..