PLAN FOR ICAR - ASRB NET EXAM PREPARATION IN 40 DAYS (MICROBIOLOGY/ AGRICULTURAL MICROBIOLOGY)

 PLAN FOR ICAR - ASRB NET EXAM PREPARATION IN 40 DAYS (MICROBIOLOGY/ AGRICULTURAL MICROBIOLOGY)

DAY	DATE	TOPICS FOR PREPARATION
1	18.03.23	Spontaneous generation theory; Contributions of Francesco Redi; John Needham; Lazaro Spallanzani; Louis Pasteur; Robert Hooke; Antony Van Leeuwenhoek; Ferdinand Cohn; Edward Buchner, Robert Koch, Ignaz Semmelweis, Joseph Lister, Paul Ehrlich, Martinus Beijerinck, Sergi Winogradsky, Alexander Fleming and Selman Waksman; Golden age of Microbiology
2	19.03.23	Evolution of Microbial life - Phylogenetic Hierarchy; Nomenclature of Microorganisms; Taxonomy and Taxonomic Hierarchy; Numerical Taxonomy; Kingdom concept of Organisms classification – Lennaeus Two Kingdom concept, Haeckel Three Kingdom concept, Copeland’s Four Kingdom concept, Whittaker’s Five Kingdom concept, Grey & Doolittle’s Six Kingdom concept and Cavalier-Smith’s Eight Kingdom concept; Cell and Cell theory; Wose – Fox’s Three Domains of Life; Genetic and Intraspecies Classification.
3	20.03.23	Prokaryotes - Bacteria – Ultrastructure; Morphological Classification (Gram positive & Gram negative), Shape and Arrangement; Cell wall; Cell membrane; Bacterial Nucleoids; Cell inclusions; Ribosomes; Capsules and Slime layer; Gas vesicles; Bacterial Cytoskeleton; Endospore and Sporulation cycle; Surface appendages – Flagella, Fimbriae and Pili
4	21.03.23	Eukaryotes - Plasma membrane, Nucleus, Endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complex, Ribosomes, Lysosomes, Gas vacuoles, Mitochondria, Hydrogenosomes, Peroxisomes, Centrosome, Cytoskeleton, Chloroplast; Organs for Locomotion – Flagella, Cilia and Pseudopodia.
5	22.03.23	Fungi – Ultrastructure; Classification; Characteristics of Molds & Yeast; Budding in Yeast; Nutrition and Reproduction; Fungal cell wall and its composition; Identification and Cultivation of Fungi; Water molds.
		Algae – Ultrastructure and Nutrition; Classification of Algae; Diatoms and Dinoflagellates; Identification and Cultivation of Algae
6	23.03.23	Protozoa - Ultrastructure, Classification, Nutrition and Locomotion; Identification and Protozoa; Slime Molds – Cellular Slime Molds & Plasmodial Slime Molds.
		Archaebacteria – Cell wall, Cell membrane, Flagella; Halophiles; Thermophiles; Acidophiles; Methanogens.
7	24.03.23	Techniques used in Identification and Classification of bacteria – Stains and its types; Staining techniques – Simple staining, Differential staining (Gram staining & Acid fast staining), Special staining (Capsule staining, Metachromatic granule staining, Endospore staining & Flagella staining); Motility test; Culture medium and its classification; Biochemical Tests (Catalase test, Oxidase test, Urease test, Indole test, Methyl red test, Voges Proskauer test, Citrate utilization test, Carbohydrate fermentation test, Triple sugar iron test, Starch hydrolysis test, Casein hydrolysis test and Gelatin liquefication test)
8	25.03.23	Important groups of Prokaryotes - Photosynthetic bacteria, Blue Green Algae; Mycoplasma and Actinobacteria; Heterotrophic bacteria; Nitrobacteria Cyanobacteria; Lactic acid bacteria.
9	26.03.23	Microscopy – History of Microscopes; Bright field microscope; Dark field microscope; Polarizing microscope; Fluorescence microscope; Confocal microscope; Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscope; Electron microscope – SEM and TEM; Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)
10	27.03.23	Virus – Structure and Classification; Animal Viruses and Plant Viruses; Viruses of Archaea; Viroids and Prions; Lytic cycle and Lysogenic cycle.
11	28.03.23	Principles of Microbial Ecology and Ecosystems; Air Microbiology - Atmosphere – Aeromicrobiology and Relationship between Microorganisms and Atmosphere; Sampling of Air; Aeroallergens; Air borne disease; Air pollution; Indicators of Air pollution; Green house effect; Air Sanitation; CO2 sequestration.
12	29.03.23	Aquatic ecosystem – Major communities of Aquatic ecosystem (Phytoplankton and Zooplankton); The Microbial Loop; Types of Aquatic ecosystem - Fresh water ecosystem, Marine ecosystem, Estuarine ecosystem and Mangrove ecosystem; Water zonations; Eutrophication; Winogradsky column; Water pollution; Bacteriological analysis of water; Water based disease transmission mechanism – Water borne, Water-washed, Water-based and Water related; Water borne diseases; Purification of water; Recycling of water.
13	30.03.23	Terrestrial Ecosystem – Importance of Soil; Formation of Soil; Composition of Soil; Soil Horizons; Soil characteristics (Physical & Chemical); Soil Microbiology – Major group of Soil microorganisms; Qualitative microflora of soil (Bacteria, Actinobacteria, Fungi, Viruses, Algae & Protozoa); Soil types and their microflora; Quantification of Soil microflora; Role of microorganisms in Soil fertility.
14	31.03.23	Decomposition of Organic matter and Soil health; Formation and composition of soil organic matter: Fulvic acid and Humic acid; Root exudates and Rhizosphere effects; Manipulation of rhizosphere microflora in plant productivity; Rhizosphere and Phyllosphere; Microbial interactions – Symbiosis, Synergism, Commensalism, Parasitism, Amensalism, Antagonism and Predation; Adaptation of microorganisms to various Ecosystem.
15	01.04.23	Sterilization - Physical method and Chemical method; Quality control and Sterility checking; Required Concentrations and Times for Chemical Destruction of Microorganisms; Evaluation of Disinfectants – Phenol coefficient test, Filter paper method, Use - Dilution test, In-Use Test and Kelsey-Sykes Capacity Test; Antibiotics – Classification, Antimicrobial resistance and Antibiotic sensitivity test.
16	02.04.23	Microbial Nutrition – Chemical nutrient requirements and Growth factors, Nutritional groups of microorganisms; Passive transport - Simple diffusion, Facilitated diffusion and Osmosis; Active transport – ABC Transporters, Group translocation, Endocytosis and Exocytosis; Iron uptake by microorganisms.
17	03.04.23	Microbial Growth – Growth Curve; Influence of environmental factors on growth; Measurement of microbial growth – Direct methods (Plate counts, Filtration, Most Probable Number Method & Direct Microscopic Count) and Indirect methods (Turbidity, Metabolic activity and Dry weight); Continuous culture of microorganisms – Chemostat & Turbidostat; Diauxic growth and Synchronus growth; Preservation of Microbial cultures.
18	04.04.23	Fermentation and its types; Generation of ATP - Substrate level Phosphorylation, Oxidative Phosphorylation and Electron transport chain; Carbohydrate catabolism – Glycolysis, Pentose phosphate pathway, Phosphoketolase pathway; Entner - Doudoroff pathway
19	05.04.23	Microbial Respiration - Aerobic and Anaerobic respiration by microorganisms; Aerobic Respiration – Kreb’s cycle; Anaerobic Respiration – Acetogenesis and Methanogenesis; Biosynthesis of Cell wall; Protein breakdown by microbes.
20	06.04.23	Photosynthesis; Diversity of photosynthetic organisms; Difference between plant, algal and bacterial photosynthesis; Photosynthetic pigments; Light reaction (Photophosphorylation) and Dark reaction (Calvin cycle); Bioluminescence.
21	07.04.23	Nitrogen cycle; Carbon cycle; Phosphorous cycle; Iron cycle; Sulfur cycle; Bioremediation; Phytoremediation; Xenobiotics; Bioleaching; Biodeterioration
22	08.04.23	PGPR and their mode of action; Isolation, Characterization, Mass multiplication, Field application and Plant growth promoting activities of Nitrogen fixing bacteria (Rhizobium sp., Frankia sp., Azotobacter sp., Azospirillum sp. and Gluconacetobacter sp.); Phosphate solubilization – Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms, Screening of Phosphate solubilizing efficiency, Mechanism of Phosphate solubilization and Benefits of Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms
23	09.04.23	Algal Biofertilizers – Isolation and Mass multiplication of Blue Green Algae (BGA), Mass multiplication of Azolla, Azolla – Anabaena symbiosis, Heterocyst and its importance in N2 fixation; Mycorrhizal Bioinoculants – Significance, Types, Mass multiplication, Field applications and Benefits.
24	10.04.23	Biopesticides – Entomopathogenic bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis); Entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii, Isaria fumosorosea, Lecanicillium sp. & Metarhizium anisopliae); Entomopathogenic virus (Cydia pomonella granulosis virus - CpGv); Plant disease control agents (Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens & Trichoderma viride).
25	11.04.23	Water pollution; Bacteriological analysis of water; Water based disease transmission mechanism – Water borne, Water-washed, Water-based and Water related; Water borne diseases; Purification of water; Solid waste management - Incineration, Composting & Sanitary Landfill; Sewage treatment – Small scale sewage treatment (Cesspools, Septic tank & Imhoff’s tank) and Large scale sewage treatments (Primary treatment, Secondary treatment, Tertiary treatment & Anaerobic Sludge Digestion).
26	12.04.23	Composting; Vermicomposting; Biogas; Primary and Secondary metabolites from microorganisms; Bioproducts – Classification, Types and Advantages.
27	13.04.23	Types of Fermentation process – Batch fermentation, Fedbatch fermentation & Continuous fermentation; Methods of Fermentation – Submerged fermentation & Solid state fermentation; Design of Fermentor; Factors affecting Fermentor design; Types of Fermentor; Industrial Sterilization of Fermentor and Air
28	14.04.23	Difference between Wild strains and Industrial strains; Industrial strains – Characteristics, Screening techniques, Industrial strain development methods, Preparation of Inoculum; Fermentation medium – Composition and Sterilization; Downstream Processing; Foam formation and Antifoam agents.
29	15.04.23	Industrial production of metabolites – Organic acids, Alcohols, Antibiotics and Amino acids; Microbial assay of Vitamins, Enzymes and Antibiotics
30	16.04.23	Production of Single Cell Protein (SCP) – SCP as food and feed; Production of Probiotics (Bioactive foods), Hormones, Biofertilizers and Biopesticides.
31	17.04.23	Food as substrate for microorganisms; Food preservation, Contamination and spoilage; Microbiology of raw and processed foods.
32	18.04.23	Fermented food – Vinegar, Wine, Saucrkraut, Pickles, Cheese and Yoghurt; Food borne illness and intoxification
33	19.04.23	Microflora of meat, fish, egg, fruits and vegetables, juices, flour and canned foods; Biodegrading microbes.
34 and 35	20.04.23 and 21.04.23	PREPARATION OF PENDING TOPICS
36 to 40	22.04.23 to 25.04.23	FULL REVISION