GATE SYLLABUS FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY (BT)

                                           (BT)

Engineering Mathematics

Linear Algebra:

Matrices and determinants, Systems of linear equations, Eigen values and Eigen

vectors.

Calculus:

Limit, continuity and differentiability, Partial derivatives, Maxima and minima,

Sequences and series, Test for convergence, Fourier Series.

Differential Equations:

Linear and nonlinear first order ODEs, higher order ODEs with constant coefficients,

Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations, Laplace transforms, PDE- Laplace, heat and wave

equations.

Probability and Statistics:

Mean, median, mode and standard deviation, Random variables, Poisson, normal and

binomial distributions, Correlation and regression analysis.

Numerical Methods:

Solution of linear and nonlinear algebraic equations, Integration of trapezoidal and

Simpson’s rule, Single and multistep methods for differential equations.

Biotechnology

Microbiology:

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure; Microbial nutrition, growth and control;

Microbial metabolism (aerobic and anaerobic respiration, photosynthesis); Nitrogen

fixation; Chemical basis of mutations and mutagens; Microbial genetics (plasmids,

transformation, transduction, conjugation); Microbial diversity and characteristic

features; Viruses.

Biochemistry:

Biomolecules and their conformation; Ramachandran map; Weak inter-molecular

interactions in biomacromolecules; Chemical and functional nature of enzymes; Kinetics

of single substrate and bi-substrate enzyme catalyzed reactions; Bioenergetics;

Metabolism (Glycolysis, TCA and Oxidative phosphorylation); Membrane transport and

pumps; Cell cycle and cell growth control; Cell signaling and signal transduction;

Biochemical and biophysical techniques for macromolecular analysis.

Molecular Biology and Genetics:

Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes; DNA replication and control;

Transcription and its control; Translational processes; Regulatory controls in

prokaryotes and eukaryotes; Mendelian inheritance; Gene interaction;

Complementation; Linkage, recombination and chromosome mapping;

Extrachromosomal inheritance; Chromosomal variation; Population genetics;

Transposable elements, Molecular basis of genetic diseases and applications.

Process Biotechnology:

Bioprocess technology for the production of cell biomass and primary/secondary

metabolites, such as baker’s yeast, ethanol, citric acid, amino acids, exopolysacharides,

antibiotics and pigments etc.; Microbial production, purification and

bioprocess application(s) of industrial enzymes; Production and purification of

recombinant proteins on a large scale; Chromatographic and membrane based

bioseparation methods; Immobilization of enzymes and cells and their application for

bioconversion processes. Aerobic and anaerobic biological processes for stabilization of

solid / liquid wastes; Bioremediation.

Bioprocess Engineering:

Kinetics of microbial growth, substrate utilization and product formation; Simple

structured models; Sterilization of air and media; Batch, fed-batch and continuous

processes; Aeration and agitation; Mass transfer in bioreactors; Rheology of

fermentation fluids; Scale-up concepts; Design of fermentation media; Various types of

microbial and enzyme reactors; Instrumentation in bioreactors.

Plant and Animal Biotechnology:

Special features and organization of plant cells; Totipotency; Regeneration of plants;

Plant products of industrial importance; Biochemistry of major metabolic pathways and

products; Autotrophic and heterotrophic growth; Plant growth regulators and elicitors;

Cell suspension culture development: methodology, kinetics of growth and production

formation, nutrient optimization; Production of secondary metabolites by plant

suspension cultures; Hairy root cultures and their cultivation. Techniques in raising

transgencies.

Characteristics of animal cells:

Metabolism, regulation and nutritional requirements for mass cultivation of animal cell

cultures; Kinetics of cell growth and product formation and effect of shear force; Product

and substrate transport; Micro & macro-carrier culture; Hybridoma technology; Live

stock improvement; Cloning in animals; Genetic engineering in animal cell culture;

Animal cell preservation.

Immunology:

The origin of immunology; Inherent immunity; Humoral and cell mediated immunity;

Primary and secondary lymphoid organ; Antigen; B and T cells and Macrophages;

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC); Antigen processing and presentation;

Synthesis of antibody and secretion; Molecular basis of antibody diversity; Polyclonal

and monoclonal antibody; Complement; Antigen-antibody reaction; Regulation of

immune response; Immune tolerance; Hyper sensitivity; Autoimmunity; Graft versus

host reaction.

Recombinant DNA Technology:

Restriction and modification enzymes; Vectors: plasmid, bacteriophage and other viral

vectors, cosmids, Ti plasmid, yeast artificial chromosome; cDNA and genomic DNA

library; Gene isolation; Gene cloning; Expression of cloned gene; Transposons and

gene targeting; DNA labeling; DNA sequencing; Polymerase chain reactions; DNA

fingerprinting; Southern and northern blotting; In-situ hybridization; RAPD; RFLP; Sitedirected

mutagenesis; Gene transfer technologies; Gene therapy.

Bioinformatics:

Major bioinformatics resources (NCBI, EBI, ExPASy); Sequence and structure

databases; Sequence analysis (biomolecular sequence file formats, scoring matrices,

sequence alignment, phylogeny); Genomics and Proteomics (Large scale genome

sequencing strategies; Comparative genomics; Understanding DNA microarrays and

protein arrays); Molecular modeling and simulations (basic concepts including concept

of force fields).

Source: gate.iitd.ac.in

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