Microbiology: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure; Microbial nutrition, growth and control; Microbial
metabolism (aerobic and anaerobic respiration, photosynthesis); Nitrogen fixation; Chemical basis of
mutations and mutagens; Microbial genetics (plasmids, transformation, transduction, conjugation); Microbial diversity and characteristic features; Viruses.
Biochemistry: Biomolecules and their conformation; Ramachandran map; Weak inter-molecular interactions
in biomacromolecules; Chemical and functional nature of enzymes; Kinetics of single substrate and bi-substrate enzyme catalyzed reactions; Bioenergetics; Metabolism (Glycolysis, TCA and Oxidative
phosphorylation); Membrane transport and pumps; Cell cycle and cell growth control; Cell signaling and
signal transduction; Biochemical and biophysical techniques for macromolecular analysis.
Molecular Biology and Genetics: Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes; DNA replication and
control; Transcription and its control; Translational processes; Regulatory controls in prokaryotes and
eukaryotes; Mendelian inheritance; Gene interaction; Complementation; Linkage, recombination and
chromosome mapping; Extra chromosomal inheritance; Chromosomal variation; Population genetics;
Transposable elements, Molecular basis of genetic diseases and applications.
Process Biotechnology: Bioprocess technology for the production of cell biomass and primary/secondary
metabolites, such as baker's yeast, ethanol, citric acid, amino acids, exopolysacharides, antibiotics and
pigments etc.; Microbial production, purification and bioprocess application(s) of industrial enzymes;
Production and purification of recombinant proteins on a large scale; Chromatographic and membrane based bioseparation methods; Immobilization of enzymes and cells and their application for bioconversion processes. Aerobic and anaerobic biological processes for stabilization of solid / liquid wastes; Bioremediation.
Bioprocess Engineering: Kinetics of microbial growth, substrate utilization and product formation; Simple
structured models; Sterilization of air and media; Batch, fed-batch and continuous processes; Aeration and
agitation; Mass transfer in bioreactors; Rheology of fermentation fluids; Scale-up concepts; Design of
fermentation media; Various types of microbial and enzyme reactors; Instrumentation in bioreactors.
Plant and Animal Biotechnology: Special features and organization of plant cells; Totipotency; Regeneration of plants; Plant products of industrial importance; Biochemistry of major metabolic pathways and products; Autotrophic and heterotrophic growth; Plant growth regulators and elicitors; Cell suspension culture development: methodology, kinetics of growth and production formation, nutrient optimization; Production of secondary metabolites by plant suspension cultures; Hairy root cultures and their cultivation. Techniques in raising transgencies.
Characteristics of animal cells: Metabolism, regulation and nutritional requirements for mass cultivation of
animal cell cultures; Kinetics of cell growth and product formation and effect of shear force; Product and
substrate transport; Micro & macro-carrier culture; Hybridoma technology; Live stock improvement; Cloning
in animals; Genetic engineering in animal cell culture; Animal cell preservation.
Immunology: The origin of immunology; Inherent immunity; Humoral and cell mediated immunity; Primary
and secondary lymphoid organ; Antigen; B and T cells and Macrophages; Major histocompatibility complex
(MHC); Antigen processing and presentation; Synthesis of antibody and secretion; Molecular basis of antibody diversity; Polyclonal and monoclonal antibody; Complement; Antigen-antibody reaction; Regulation of immune response; Immune tolerance; Hyper sensitivity; Autoimmunity; Graft versus host reaction.
Recombinant DNA Technology: Restriction and modification enzymes; Vectors: plasmid, bacteriophage and other viral vectors, cosmids, Ti plasmid, yeast artificial chromosome; cDNA and genomic DNA library; Gene isolation; Gene cloning; Expression of cloned gene; Transposons and gene targeting; DNA labeling; DNA sequencing; Polymerase chain reactions; DNA fingerprinting; Southern and northern blotting; In-situ hybridization; RAPD; RFLP; Sitedirected mutagenesis; Gene transfer technologies; Gene therapy.
Bioinformatics: Major Bioinformatics resources (NCBI, EBI, ExPASy); Sequence and structure databases; Sequence analysis (bimolecular sequence file formats, scoring matrices,sequence alignment, phylogeny); Genomics and Proteomics (Large scale genome sequencing strategies; Comparative genomics; Understanding DNA micro arrays and protein arrays); Molecular modeling and simulations (basic concepts including concept of force fields)