GATE Syllabus for Life Sciences
SECTION H: CHEMISTRY
Atomic structure and periodicity: Plancks
quantum theory, wave particle duality, uncertainty principle, quantum
mechanical model of hydrogen atom; electronic configuration of atoms;
periodic table and periodic properties; ionization energy, election
affinity, electronegativity, atomic size.
Structure and bonding: Ionic and covalent
bonding, M.O. and V.B. approaches for diatomic molecules, VSEPR theory
and shape of molecules, hybridisation, resonance, dipole moment,
structure parameters such as bond length, bond angle and bond energy,
hydrogen bonding, van der Waals interactions. Ionic solids, ionic
radii, lattice energy (Born-Haber Cycle).
s.p. and d Block Elements: Oxides, halides
and hydrides of alkali and alkaline earth metals, B, Al, Si, N, P, and
S, general characteristics of 3d elements, coordination complexes:
valence bond and crystal field theory, color, geometry and magnetic
properties.
Chemical Equilibria: Colligative properties
of solutions, ionic equilibria in solution, solubility product, common
ion effect, hydrolysis of salts, pH, buffer and their applications in
chemical analysis, equilibrium constants (Kc, Kp and Kx) for
homogeneous reactions,
Electrochemistry: Conductance, Kohlrausch
law, Half Cell potentials, emf, Nernst equation, galvanic cells,
thermodynamic aspects and their applications.
Reaction Kinetics: Rate constant, order of
reaction, molecularity, activation energy, zero, first and second order
kinetics, catalysis and elementary enzyme reactions.
Thermodynamics: First law, reversible and
irreversible processes, internal energy, enthalpy, Kirchoff?s equation,
heat of reaction, Hess law, heat of formation, Second law, entropy,
free energy, and work function. Gibbs-Helmholtz equation,
Clausius-Clapeyron equation, free energy change and equilibrium
constant, Troutons rule, Third law of thermodynamics.
Basis of Organic Reactions Mechanism:
Elementary treatment of SN1, SN2, E1 and E2 reactions, Hoffmann and
Saytzeff rules, Addition reactions, Markonikoff rule and Kharash
effect, Diels-Alder reaction, aromatic electrophilic substitution,
orientation effect as exemplified by various functional groups.
Identification of functional groups by chemical tests
Structure-Reactivity Correlations: Acids and
bases, electronic and steric effects, optical and geometrical
isomerism, tautomerism, conformers, concept of aromaticity
SECTION I: BIOCHEMISTRY
Organization of life. Importance of water. Cell structure and organelles. Structure and function of biomolecules:
Amino acids, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins and Nucleic acids.
Biochemical separation techniques and characterization: ion exchange,
size exclusion and affinity chromatography, electrophoresis,
UV-visible, fluorescence and Mass spectrometry. Protein structure,
folding and function: Myoglobin, Hemoglobin, Lysozyme, Ribonuclease A,
Carboxypeptidase and Chymotrypsin. Enzyme kinetics including its
regulation and inhibition, Vitamins and Coenzymes.
Metabolism and bioenergetics. Generation and utilization of ATP. Metabolic pathways and their regulation:
glycolysis, TCA cycle, pentose phosphate pathway, oxidative
phosphorylation, gluconeogenesis, glycogen and fatty acid metabolism.
Metabolism of Nitrogen containing compounds: nitrogen fixation, amino
acids and nucleotides. Photosynthesis: the Calvin cycle.
Biological membranes. Transport across membranes. Signal transduction; hormones and neurotransmitters.
DNA replication, transcription and translation.
Biochemical regulation of gene expression. Recombinant DNA technology
and applications: PCR, site directed mutagenesis and DNA-microarray.
Immune system. Active and passive immunity.
Complement system. Antibody structure, function and diversity. Cells of
the immune system: T, B and macrophages. T and B cell activation. Major
histocompatibilty complex. T cell receptor. Immunological techniques:
Immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, RIA and ELISA.
SECTION J: BIOTECHNOLOGY
Advanced techniques in gene expression and analysis:
PCR and RT-PCR, microarray technology, DNA fingerprinting and
recombinant DNA technology; prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression
systems; Vectors: plasmids, phages, cosmids and BAC.
Architecture of plant genome; plant tissue culture
techniques; methods of gene transfer into plant cells and development
of transgenic plants; manipulation of phenotypic traits in plants;
plant cell fermentations and production of secondary metabolites using
suspension/immobilized cell culture; expression of animal protein in
plants; genetically modified crops.
Animal cell metabolism & regulation; cell cycle;
primary cell culture; nutritional requirements for animal cell culture;
techniques for mass culture of animal cell lines; application of animal
cell culture for production of vaccines, growth hormones; interferons,
cytokines & therapeutic proteins; hybridoma technology and gene
knockout; stem cells, its application in organ synthesis; gene therapy;
transgenic animals & molecular pharming.
Industrial bioprocesses: microbial production
of organic acids, amino acids, proteins, polysaccharides, lipids,
polyhydroxyalkanoates, antibiotics and pharmaceuticals; methods and
applications of immobilization of cells and enzymes; kinetics of
soluble and immobilized enzymes; biosensors; biofuels; biopesticides;
environmental bioremediation.
Microbial growth kinetics; batch, fed-batch and
continuous culture of microbial cells; media for industrial
fermentations; sterilization of air and media, design and operation of
stirred tank, airlift, plug flow, packed bed, fluidized bed, membrane
and hollow fibre reactors; aeration and agitation in aerobic
fermentations; bioprocess calculations based on material and energy
balance; Down stream processing in industrial biotechnology:
filtration, precipitation, centrifugation, cell disintegration, solvent
extraction, and chromatographic separations, membrane filtration,
aqueous two phase separation.
Bioinformatics: genomics; proteomics and computational biology.
SECTION K: BOTANY
Plant Systematics: Systems of classification (non-phylogenetic vs. phylogenetic - outline), plant groups, molecular systematics.
Plant Anatomy: Plant cell structure,
organization, organelles, cytoskeleton, cell wall and membranes;
anatomy of root, stem and leaves, meristems, vascular system, their
ontogeny, structure and functions, secondary growth in plants and
stellar organization.
Morphogenesis & Development: Cell cycle,
cell division, life cycle of an angiosperm, pollination, fertilization,
embryogenesis, seed formation, seed storage proteins, seed dormancy and
germination.
Concept of cellular totipotency, clonal propagation;
organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis, artificial seed, somaclonal
variation, secondary metabolism in plant cell culture, embryo culture,
in vitro fertilization.
Physiology and Biochemistry: Plant water
relations, transport of minerals and solutes, stress physiology,
stomatal physiology, signal transduction, N2 metabolism,
photosynthesis, photorespiration; respiration, Flowering:
photoperiodism and vernalization, biochemical mechanisms involved in
flowering; molecular mechanism of senencensce and aging, biosynthesis,
mechanism of action and physiological effects of plant growth
regulators, structure and function of biomolecules, (proteins,
carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acid), enzyme kinetics.
Genetics: Principles of Mendelian
inheritance, linkage, recombination, genetic mapping; extrachromosomal
inheritance; prokaryotic and eukaryotic genome organization, regulation
of gene expression, gene mutation and repair, chromosomal aberrations
(numerical and structural), transposons.
Plant Breeding and Genetic Modification:
Principles, methods ? selection, hybridization, heterosis; male
sterility, genetic maps and molecular markers, sporophytic and
gametophytic self incompability, haploidy, triploidy, somatic cell
hybridization, marker-assisted selection, gene transfer methods viz.
direct and vector-mediated, plastid transformation, transgenic plants
and their application in agriculture, molecular pharming, plantibodies.
Economic Botany: A general account of
economically and medicinally important plants- cereals, pulses, plants
yielding fibers, timber, sugar, beverages, oils, rubber, pigments,
dyes, gums, drugs and narcotics. Economic importance of algae, fungi,
lichen and bacteria.
Plant Pathology: Nature and classification of
plant diseases, diseases of important crops caused by fungi, bacteria
and viruses, and their control measures, mechanism(s) of pathogenesis
and resistance, molecular detection of pathogens; plant-microbe
beneficial interactions.
Ecology and Environment: Ecosystems types,
dynamics, degradation, ecological succession; food chains and energy
flow; vegetation types of the world, pollution and global warming,
speciation and extinction, conservation strategies, cryopreservation,
phytoremediation.
SECTION L: MICROBIOLOGY
Historical Perspective: Discovery of
microbial world; Landmark discoveries relevant to the field of
microbiology; Controversy over spontaneous generation; Role of
microorganisms in transformation of organic matter and in the causation
of diseases.
Methods in Microbiology: Pure culture
techniques; Theory and practice of sterilization; Principles of
microbial nutrition; Enrichment culture techniques for isolation of
microorganisms; Light-, phase contrast- and electron-microscopy.
Microbial Taxonomy and Diversity: Bacteria,
Archea and their broad classification; Eukaryotic microbes: Yeasts,
molds and protozoa; Viruses and their classification; Molecular
approaches to microbial taxonomy.
Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells: Structure
and Function: Prokaryotic Cells: cell walls, cell membranes, mechanisms
of solute transport across membranes, Flagella and Pili, C
SECTION M: ZOOLOGY
Animal world: Animal diversity, distribution, systematics and classification of animals, phylogenetic relationships.
Evolution: Origin and history of life on earth, theories of evolution, natural selection, adaptation, speciation.
Genetics: Principles of inheritance, molecular basis of heredity, mutations, cytoplasmic inheritance, linkage and mapping of genes.
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology: Nucleic
acids, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates; replication, transcription
and translation; regulation of gene expression, organization of genome,
Kreb?s cycle, glycolysis, enzyme catalysis, hormones and their actions,
vitamins.
Cell Biology: Structure of cell, cellular
organelles and their structure and function, cell cycle, cell division,
chromosomes and chromatin structure. Eukaryotic gene organization and
expression (Basic principles of signal transduction).
Animal Anatomy and Physiology: Comparative
physiology, the respiratory system, circulatory system, digestive
system, the nervous system, the excretory system, the endocrine system,
the reproductive system, the skeletal system, osmoregulation.
Parasitology and Immunology: Nature of
parasite, host-parasite relation, protozoan and helminthic parasites,
the immune response, cellular and humoral immune response, evolution of
the immune system.
Development Biology: Embryonic development, cellular differentiation, organogenesis, metamorphosis, genetic basis of development, stem cells.
Ecology: The ecosystem, habitats, the food
chain, population dynamics, species diversity, zoogerography,
biogeochemical cycles, conservation biology.
Animal Behaviour: Types of behaviours,
courtship, mating and territoriality, instinct, learning and memory,
social behaviour across the animal taxa, communication, pheromones,
evolution of animal behaviour.
Atomic structure and periodicity: Planck’s quantum theory, wave particle
duality, uncertainty principle, quantum mechanical model of hydrogen atom;
electronic configuration of atoms; periodic table and periodic properties;
ionization energy, election affinity, electronegativity, atomic size.
Structure and bonding: Ionic and covalent bonding, M.O. and V.B. approaches
for diatomic molecules, VSEPR theory and shape of molecules, hybridisation,
resonance, dipole moment, structure parameters such as bond length, bond angle
and bond energy, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals interactions. Ionic solids,
ionic radii, lattice energy (Born-Haber Cycle).
s.p. and d Block Elements: Oxides, halides and hydrides of alkali and
alkaline earth metals, B, Al, Si, N, P, and S, general characteristics of 3d
elements, coordination complexes: valence bond and crystal field theory, color,
geometry and magnetic properties.
Chemical Equilibria: Colligative properties of solutions, ionic equilibria in
solution, solubility product, common ion effect, hydrolysis of salts, pH, buffer
and their applications in chemical analysis, equilibrium constants (Kc, Kp and
Kx) for homogeneous reactions,
Electrochemistry: Conductance, Kohlrausch law, Half Cell potentials, emf,
Nernst equation, galvanic cells, thermodynamic aspects and their applications.
Reaction Kinetics: Rate constant, order of reaction, molecularity, activation
energy, zero, first and second order kinetics, catalysis and elementary enzyme
reactions.
Thermodynamics: First law, reversible and irreversible processes, internal
energy, enthalpy, Kirchoff’s equation, heat of reaction, Hess law, heat of
formation, Second law, entropy, free energy, and work function. Gibbs-Helmholtz
equation, Clausius-Clapeyron equation, free energy change and equilibrium
constant, Troutons rule, Third law of thermodynamics.
Basis of Organic Reactions Mechanism: Elementary treatment of SN1, SN2, E1
and E2 reactions, Hoffmann and Saytzeff rules, Addition reactions, Markonikoff
rule and Kharash effect, Diels-Alder reaction, aromatic electrophilic
substitution, orientation effect as exemplified by various functional groups.
Identification of functional groups by chemical tests
Structure-Reactivity Correlations: Acids and bases, electronic and steric
effects, optical and geometrical isomerism, tautomerism, conformers, concept of
aromaticity