PLAN FOR ICAR - ASRB NET EXAM PREPARATION (AGRICULTURAL MICROBIOLOGY) IN 100 DAYS (01.05.2025 to 08.08.2025)

DAY	DATE	TOPICS FOR PREPARATION
1	01.05.25	Spontaneous generation theory; Contributions of Francesco Redi; John Needham; Lazaro Spallanzani; Louis Pasteur; Robert Hooke; Antony Van Leeuwenhoek; Ferdinand Cohn; Edward Buchner.
2	02.05.25	Robert Koch, Ignaz Semmelweis, Joseph Lister, Paul Ehrlich, Martinus Beijerinck, Sergi Winogradsky, Alexander Fleming and Selman Waksman; Golden age of Microbiology.
3	03.05.25	Evolution of Microbial life - Phylogenetic Hierarchy; Nomenclature of Microorganisms; Taxonomy and Taxonomic Hierarchy; Numerical Taxonomy; Molecular Taxonomy.
4	04.05.25	Kingdom concept of Organisms classification – Linnaeus 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.
5	05.05.25	Prokaryotes - Bacteria – General characteristics; Bergey’s manual for Systematic Classification; Ultrastructure; Morphological Classification (Gram positive & Gram negative); Shape and Arrangement of Bacteria.
6	06.05.25	Bacteria - Cell wall; Cell membrane; Bacterial Nucleoids; Cell inclusions; Ribosomes; Capsules and Slime layer; Gas vesicles; Bacterial Cytoskeleton;
7	07.05.25	Bacteria - Spore forming bacteria; Endospore and Sporulation cycle; Surface appendages – Flagella, Fimbriae and Pili.
8	08.05.25	Eukaryotes - Plasma membrane; Nucleus; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Golgi complex; Ribosomes; Lysosomes; Gas vacuoles; Mitochondria.
9	09.05.25	Eukaryotes - Hydrogenosomes, Peroxisomes, Centrosome, Cytoskeleton, Chloroplast; Organs for Locomotion – Flagella, Cilia and Pseudopodia.
10	10.05.25	Fungi – General characteristics; Ultrastructure; Classification; Characteristics of Molds & Yeast; Budding in Yeast; Nutrition and Reproduction.
11	11.05.25	Fungi - Fungal cell wall and its composition; Identification of Fungi – LPCB Staining, KOH Wet Mount, Germ Tube Test and Slide Culture Technique; Cultivation of Fungi; Water molds.
12	12.05.25	Algae – General characteristics; Ultrastructure and Nutrition; Classification of Algae; Diatoms and Dinoflagellates; Identification and Cultivation of Algae.
13	13.05.25	Protozoa - General characteristics; Ultrastructure, Classification, Nutrition and Locomotion; Identification and Protozoa; Slime Molds – Cellular Slime Molds & Plasmodial Slime Molds.
14	14.05.25	Archaebacteria – An Introduction to Archaea; Difference between Bacteria and Archaea; Cell wall of Archaea; Difference between Bacterial and Archaea Cell wall; Cell membrane of Archaea; Flagella of Archaea.
15	15.05.25	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.
16	16.05.25	Biochemical Tests (Catalase test, Oxidase test, Urease test, Phenylalanine deaminase test, Coagulase test, Indole test, Methyl red test, Voges Proskauer test, Citrate utilization test)
17	17.05.25	Biochemical Tests (Carbohydrate fermentation test, Triple sugar iron test, Starch hydrolysis test, Casein hydrolysis test and Gelatin liquefication test)
18	18.05.25	Important groups of Prokaryotes - Photosynthetic bacteria; Chemoautotrophic bacteria; Actinobacteria; Heterotrophic bacteria; Nitrobacteria.
19	19.05.25	Important groups of Prokaryotes - Lactic acid bacteria; Halophiles; Thermophiles; Acidophiles; Methanogens; Biogas; Mycoplasma.
20	20.05.25	Virus – General characteristics; Structure; Classification; Cultivation of Virus; Animal Viruses and Plant Viruses; Viroids and Prions.
21	21.05.25	Bacteriophages – General characteristics; Structure, Lytic cycle and Lysogenic cycle; Cyanophages; Mycophages.
22	22.05.25	Air Microbiology - Atmosphere – Aeromicrobiology and Relationship between Microorganisms and Atmosphere; Sampling of Air; Air borne disease;
23	23.05.25	Air pollution; Aeroallergens; Indicators of Air pollution; Green house effect; Air Sanitation; CO2 sequestration.
24	24.05.25	Importance of Soil; Formation of Soil; Composition of Soil; Soil Horizons; Soil characteristics (Physical & Chemical).
25	25.05.25	Soil Microbiology – Major group of Soil microorganisms; Qualitative microflora of soil (Bacteria, Actinobacteria, Fungi, Viruses, Algae & Protozoa).
26	26.05.25	Soil types and their microflora; Quantification of Soil microflora; Soil pollution; Rhizosphere; Rhizoplane; Endorhizoaphere; Phyllosphere.
27	27.05.25	Aquatic ecosystem – Major communities of Aquatic ecosystem (Phytoplankton and Zooplankton); Fresh water ecosystem; Marine ecosystem; Estuarine ecosystem; Mangrove ecosystem; Water zonations; Eutrophication; Winogradsky column.
28	28.05.25	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.
29	29.05.25	Microbial interactions – Symbiosis, Synergism, Commensalism, Parasitism, Amensalism, Antagonism and Predation; Adaptation of microorganisms to various Ecosystem.
30	30.05.25	Microbial Nutrition – Chemical nutrient requirements and Growth factors; Nutritional groups of microorganisms; Passive transport - Simple diffusion, Facilitated diffusion and Osmosis.
31	31.05.25	Active transport – ABC Transporters, Group translocation; Phagocytosis and Pinocytosis; Endocytosis and Exocytosis; Iron uptake by microorganisms.
32	01.06.25	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).
33	02.06.25	Continuous culture of microorganisms – Chemostat & Turbidostat; Diauxic growth and Synchronus growth; Preservation of Microbial cultures.
34	03.06.25	Fermentation and its types; Generation of ATP - Substrate level Phosphorylation, Oxidative Phosphorylation and Electron transport chain.
35	04.06.25	Carbohydrate catabolism – Glycolysis, Pentose phosphate pathway, Phosphoketolase pathway; Entner - Doudoroff pathway.
36	05.06.25	Microbial Respiration - Aerobic and Anaerobic respiration by microorganisms; Aerobic Respiration – Kreb’s cycle; Anaerobic Respiration – Acetogenesis and Methanogenesis.
37	06.06.25	Photosynthesis; Diversity of photosynthetic organisms; Difference between plant, algal and bacterial photosynthesis; Photosynthetic pigments.
38	07.06.25	Light reaction (Photophosphorylation) and Dark reaction (Calvin cycle); Bioluminescence.
39	08.06.25	Xenobiotics; Metabolism of Xenobiotics; Metabolism of C1 compounds; Biosynthesis of Cell wall by Microbes.
40	09.06.25	Biosynthesis of Protein by Microbes; Biosynthesis of DNA by Microbes; Biosynthesis of RNA by Microbes; Protein breakdown by Microbes.
41	10.06.25	Decomposition of Organic matter; Soil health; Root exudates (Rhizodeposition); Rhizosphere effects; Microbial biomass.
42	11.06.25	Formation and Composition of Soil Organic Matter - Ferulic acid, Fulvic acid and Humic acid.
43	12.06.25	Nitrogen cycle; Biological Nitrogen Fixation; Biochemistry of Nitrogen Fixation; Genetics of Nitrogen Fixation.
44	13.06.25	Phosphorus cycle; Potassium cycle; Sulphur cycle; Iron cycle.
45	14.06.25	PGPR and their Mode of Action – Direct mechanisms and Indirect mechanisms; Role of PGPR in the Bioremediation of Soil.
46	15.06.25	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.).
47	16.06.25	Phosphate solubilization – Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms, Screening of Phosphate solubilizing efficiency, Mechanism of Phosphate solubilization and Benefits of Phosphate solubilizing microorganisms.
48	17.06.25	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.
49	18.06.25	Mycorrhizal Bioinoculants – Significance, Types, Mass multiplication, Field applications and Benefits.
50	19.06.25	Biopesticides – Entomopathogenic bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis); Entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana, Verticillium lecanii, Isaria fumosorosea, Lecanicillium sp. & Metarhizium anisopliae);
51	20.06.25	Entomopathogenic virus (Cydia pomonella granulosis virus - CpGv); Plant disease control agents (Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fluorescens & Trichoderma viride).
52	21.06.25	Sterilization - Physical method and Chemical method; Quality control and Sterility checking; Disinfection and Disinfectants; Required Concentrations and Times for Chemical Destruction of Microorganisms.
53	22.06.25	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 tests.
54	23.06.25	Microscopy – History of Microscopes; Difference between Simple Microscope and Compound Microscope; Bright field microscope; Dark field microscope.
55	24.06.25	Polarizing microscope; Fluorescence microscope; Confocal microscope.
56	25.06.25	Phase Contrast Microscope; Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) microscope; Difference between Light microscope and Electron microscope; Electron microscope – SEM and TEM.
57	26.06.25	Difference between SEM and TEM; Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM); Atomic Force Microscope (AFM).
58	27.06.25	Sources of Pollution and their Impact on Environment; Bioremediation; Phytoremediation; Xenobiotics; Bioleaching; Biodeterioration.
59	28.06.25	Solid Waste Management - Incineration, Composting & Sanitary Landfill; Composting and C:N Ratio.
60	29.06.25	Sewage treatment – Small scale sewage treatment (Cesspools, Septic tank & Imhoff’s tank);
61	30.06.25	Large Scale Sewage Treatments (Primary treatment, Secondary treatment, Tertiary treatment & Anaerobic Sludge Digestion); Effluent Management.
62	01.07.25	Koji process; Primary and Secondary metabolites from microorganisms; Bioproducts – Classification; Methods of Fermentation – Submerged fermentation & Solid state fermentation.
63	02.07.25	Design of Fermentor; Factors affecting Fermentor design; Types of Fermentor.
64	03.07.25	Industrial Sterilization of Fermentor and Air; Fermentation Economics; Computer control of Fermentation process.
65	04.07.25	Control of Fermentation process – Batch fermentation, Fedbatch fermentation & Continuous fermentation; Difference between Wild strains and Industrial strains.
66	05.07.25	Industrial strains – Characteristics, Screening techniques, Industrial strain development methods; Preparation of Inoculum.
67	06.07.25	Fermentation medium – Composition and Sterilization; Downstream Processing; Foam formation and Antifoam agents.
68	07.07.25	Industrial production of Metabolites – Organic acids (Citric acid, Acetic acid, Lactic acid & Gluconic acid); Antibiotics (Penicillin, Streptomycin & Tetracycline).
69	08.07.25	Industrial production of Metabolites – Amino acids (Glutamic acid & Lysine); Vitamins (Vitamin – B2, B12, & Vitamin – C).
70	09.07.25	Enzymes (Amylases, Proteases & Pectinases); Microbial assay of Vitamins; Microbial assay of Enzymes; Microbial assay of Antibiotics.
71	10.07.25	Industrial production of Metabolites – Alcohols (Bioethanol, Glycerol, Acetone – butanol, Beer and Wine)
72	11.07.25	Industrial production of Hormones, Biofertilizers and Biopesticides; Production of Probiotics
73	12.07.25	Production of Single Cell Proteins (SCP); SCP as Food; SCP as Feed; SCP as Bioactive food; SCP as Probiotics.
74	13.07.25	Microbiology of Raw and Processed foods; Fermented food - Vinegar, Sauerkraut and Pickles.
75	14.07.25	Fermented food - Cheese and Yogurt
76	15.07.25	Food Preservation; Contamination and Spoilage of Foods.
77	16.07.25	Food-borne Illness; Food-borne Intoxication; Food as Substrate for Microorganism.
78	17.07.25	Microflora of Meat; Microflora of Fish.
79	18.07.25	Microflora of Egg; Microflora of Flour.
80	19.07.25	Microflora of Fruits; Microflora of Vegetables.
81	20.07.25	Microflora of Juices; Microflora of Canned foods.
82	21.07.25	Genetic Mechanisms in Bacteria, Archaea and Viruses.
83	22.07.25	Genetic Variation; Gene Expression; Genetic Engineering Techniques used in Microbiology; Basic Concepts of Genetics.
84	23.07.25	DNA as a Genetic material; History of DNA; Watson and Crick model of DNA; Forms of DNA – DNA – A, DNA – B and DNA – Z.
85	24.07.25	RNA as a Genetic material; History of RNA; Structure of RNA; Types of RNA – mRNA, rRNA and tRNA.
86	25.07.25	Transcription; Inhibitors of Transcription; Translation; Inhibitors of Translation.
87	26.07.25	Protein – Structure and Classification of Proteins.
88	27.07.25	Gel Electrophoresis; SDS PAGE; 2D - SDS PAGE.
89	28.07.25	DNA Damage by Physical and Chemical agents; Types of Genetic Mutations - Spontaneous Mutation; Induced Mutation.
90	29.07.25	Point Mutation (Silent Mutation, Missense Mutation, Non-sense Mutation & Frameshift Mutation).
91	30.07.25	Mechanisms of Genetic Variation; Methods of Detecting and Analyzing Mutations - Mutant detection, Mutant selection & Carcinogenecity testing.
92	31.07.25	DNA Repair Mechanism – Excision repair, Direct repair, Recombination repair, Mismatch repair and SOS Response.
93	01.08.25	Regulation of Gene Expression; Operon Model and Other Regulatory Mechanisms.
94	02.08.25	Horizontal Gene Transfer – Conjugation, Transformation and Transduction
95	03.08.25	Plasmids – Structure, Characteristics, Types, Replication, Plasmid copy number.
96	04.08.25	Plasmids - Incompatibility of Plasmids, Isolation of Plasmids, Purification of Plasmid DNA.
97	05.08.25	Mobile Genetic Elements; Genomic Analysis; Bioinformatics; DNA Extraction; DNA Purification.
98	06.08.25	Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR); RT-PCR; DNA Sequencing.
99	07.08.25	Transformation experiments; Cloning experiments.
100	08.08.25	CRISPR; Gene/Genome Editing; Genetically Modified Microorganisms