GATE XL Microbiology Syllabus
Complete section-wise syllabus for GATE XL Microbiology section. This syllabus is prepared based on the latest official GATE notification and is regularly updated to reflect any changes announced by the exam authorities. Each section includes a detailed list of topics that candidates should study to prepare effectively for the exam.
11TopicsS Section Code30 Marks
- 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
- Pure culture techniques; Principles of microbial nutrition; Enrichment culture techniques for isolation of microorganisms
- Antigen and antibody detection methods for microbial diagnosis
- Light-, phase contrast-, fluorescence- and electron-microscopy; PCR, real-time PCR for quantitation of microbes
- Next generation sequencing technologies in microbiology
- Bacteria, Archea and their broad classification
- Eukaryotic microbes: Yeasts, molds and protozoa; Viruses and their classification
- Molecular approaches to microbial taxonomy and phylogeny
- Cell walls, cell membranes and their biosynthesis, mechanisms of solute transport across membranes, Flagella and Pili, Capsules, Cell inclusions like endospores and gas vesicles
- Bacterial locomotion, including positive and negative chemotaxis
- Definition of growth; Growth curve; Mathematical expression of exponential growth phase; Measurement of growth and growth yields
- Synchronous growth; Continuous culture; Effect of environmental factors on growth; Bacterial biofilm and biofouling
- Disinfection and Sterilization: Principles, methods and assessment of efficacy
- Energetics: redox reactions and electron carriers; Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation; An overview of metabolism
- Glycolysis; Pentose-phosphate pathway; Entner-Doudoroff pathway; Glyoxalate pathway; The citric acid cycle; Fermentation; Aerobic and anaerobic respiration
- Chemolithotrophy; Photosynthesis; Calvin cycle; Biosynthetic pathway for fatty acids synthesis
- Common regulatory mechanisms in synthesis of amino acids; Regulation of major metabolic pathways
- Normal microbiota; Classification of infectious diseases; Reservoirs of infection; Nosocomial infection; Opportunistic infections; Emerging infectious diseases
- Mechanism of microbial pathogenicity; Nonspecific defense of host; Antigens and antibodies
- Humoral and cell mediated immunity; Vaccines; passive immunization; Immune deficiency
- Human diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, and pathogenic fungi
- General characteristics of antimicrobial drugs
- Antibiotics: Classification molecular mechanism of mode of action and resistance
- Antifungal and antiviral drugs
- Types of mutation; UV and chemical mutagens; Selection of mutants; Ames test for mutagenesis
- Bacterial genetic system: transformation, conjugation, transduction, recombination, plasmids, transposons; DNA repair
- Regulation of gene expression: repression and induction; Operon model; Bacterial genome with special reference to E.coli
- Phage λ and its life cycle; RNA; mutation in virus genomes, virus recombination and reassortment; Basic concept of microbial genomics
- Microbial interactions; Carbon, sulphur and nitrogen cycles; Soil microorganisms associated with vascular plants
- Bioremediation; Uncultivable microorganisms; basic concept of metagenomics and metatranscriptomics