GATE Biotechnology Syllabus

Subject Code: BT

Course Structure

Sections/Units Topics
Section A Engineering Mathematics
Section B General Biotechnology
Unit 1 Biochemistry
Unit 2 Microbiology
Unit 3 Cell Biology
Unit 4 Molecular Biology and Genetics
Unit 5 Analytical Techniques
Unit 6 Immunology
Unit 7 Bioinformatics
Section C Recombinant DNA Technology
Section D Plant and Animal Biotechnology
Section E Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

Course Syllabus

Section A: 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

Section B: General Biotechnology

Unit 1: Biochemistry

  • Biomolecules-structure and functions −
    • Biological membranes
    • Structure
    • Action potential
    • Transport processes
  • Enzymes −
    • Classification
    • Kinetics and mechanism of action
  • Basic concepts and designs of metabolism −
    • Carbohydrates
    • Lipids
    • Amino acids
    • Nucleic acids
    • Photosynthesis
    • Respiration
    • Electron transport chain
  • Bioenergetics

Unit 2: Microbiology

  • Viruses- structure and classification
  • Microbial classification and diversity (bacterial, algal and fungal)
  • Methods in microbiology
  • Microbial growth and nutrition
  • Aerobic and anaerobic respiration
  • Nitrogen fixation
  • Microbial diseases and host-pathogen interaction

Unit 3: Cell Biology

  • Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure
  • Cell cycle and cell growth control
  • Cell-Cell communication
  • Cell signaling and signal transduction

Unit 4: Molecular Biology and Genetics

  • Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes

  • Mutations and mutagenesis

  • Nucleic acid replication, transcription, translation and their regulatory mechanisms in prokaryotes and eukaryotes

  • Mendelian inheritance

  • Gene interaction

  • Complementation

  • Linkage, recombination and chromosome mapping

  • Extra chromosomal inheritance

  • Microbial genetics (plasmids, transformation, transduction, conjugation)

  • Horizontal gene transfers and Transposable elements

  • RNA interference

  • DNA damage and repair

  • Chromosomal variation

  • Molecular basis of genetic diseases

Unit 5: Analytical Techniques

  • Principles of microscopy-light, electron, fluorescent and confocal
  • Centrifugation- high speed and ultra
  • Principles of spectroscopy −
    • UV
    • Visible
    • CD
    • IR
    • FTIR
    • Raman
    • MS
    • NMR
  • Principles of chromatography −
    • Ion exchange
    • Gel filtration
    • Hydrophobic interaction
    • Affinity
    • GC
    • HPLC
    • FPLC
  • Electrophoresis
  • Microarray

Unit 6: Immunology

  • History of Immunology
  • Innate, humoral and cell mediated immunity
  • Antigen
  • Antibody structure and function
  • Molecular basis of antibody diversity
  • Synthesis of antibody and secretion
  • Antigen-antibody reaction
  • Complement
  • Primary and secondary lymphoid organ
  • B and T cells and macrophages
  • Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)
  • Antigen processing and presentation
  • Polyclonal and monoclonal antibody
  • Regulation of immune response
  • Immune tolerance
  • Hypersensitivity
  • Autoimmunity
  • Graft versus host reaction

Unit 7: Bioinformatics

  • Major bioinformatics resources and search tools

  • Sequence and structure databases

  • Sequence analysis −

    • Biomolecular sequence file formats

    • Scoring matrices

    • Sequence alignment

    • Phylogeny

  • Data mining and analytical tools for genomic and proteomic studies

  • Molecular dynamics and simulations (basic concepts including force fields, protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid, protein-ligand interaction)

Section C: Recombinant DNA Technology

  • Restriction and modification enzymes

  • Vectors; plasmid, bacteriophage and other viral vectors, cosmids, Ti plasmid, yeast artificial chromosome

  • Mammalian and plant expression vectors

  • cDNA and genomic DNA library

  • Gene isolation, cloning and expression

  • Transposons and gene targeting

  • DNA labeling

  • DNA sequencing

  • Polymerase chain reactions

  • DNA fingerprinting

  • Southern and northern blotting

  • In-situ hybridization

  • RAPD, RFLP

  • Site-directed mutagenesis

  • Gene transfer technologies

  • Gene therapy

Section D: Plant and Animal Biotechnology

  • Totipotency
  • Regeneration of plants
  • Plant growth regulators and elicitors
  • Tissue culture and Cell suspension culture system −
    • Methodology
    • Kinetics of growth
    • Nutrient optimization
  • Production of secondary metabolites by plant suspension cultures
  • Hairy root culture
  • Transgenic plants
  • Plant products of industrial importance

Animal cell culture

  • Media composition and growth conditions
  • Animal cell and tissue preservation
  • Anchorage and non-anchorage dependent cell culture
  • Kinetics of cell growth
  • Micro & macro-carrier culture
  • Hybridoma technology
  • Stem cell technology
  • Animal cloning
  • Transgenic animals

Section E: Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

  • Chemical engineering principles applied to biological system −
    • Principle of reactor design
    • Ideal and non-ideal multiphase bioreactors
    • Mass and heat transfer
  • Rheology of fermentation fluids, Aeration and agitation
  • Media formulation and optimization
  • Kinetics of microbial growth, substrate utilization and product formation
  • Sterilization of air and media
  • Batch, fed-batch and continuous processes
  • Various types of microbial and enzyme reactors
  • Instrumentation control and optimization
  • Unit operations in solid-liquid separation and liquid-liquid extraction
  • Process scale-up, economics and feasibility analysis

Engineering principle of bioprocessing

  • Upstream production and downstream

  • Bioprocess design and development from lab to industrial scale

  • Microbial, animal and plant cell culture platforms

  • Production of biomass and primary/secondary metabolites

  • Biofuels, Bioplastics, industrial enzymes, antibiotics

  • Large scale production and purification of recombinant proteins

  • Industrial application of chromatographic and membrane based bio-separation methods

  • Immobilization of biocatalysts (enzymes and cells) for bioconversion processes

  • Bioremediation-Aerobic and anaerobic processes for stabilization of solid/liquid wastes

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