GATE Syllabus for Biotechnology 2011
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.
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; Extrachromosomal 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, exo-polysacharides, 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; Biotechnology 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; Site-directed mutagenesis; Gene
transfer technologies; Gene therapy.
Bioinformatics: Major bioinformatics resources (NCBI, EBI, ExPASy); Sequence and structure databases; Sequence
analysis (biomolecular sequence file formats, scoring matrices, sequence alignment, phylogeny); Genomics and Proteomics
(Large scale genome sequencing strategies; Comparative genomics; Understanding DNA microarrays and protein arrays);
Molecular modeling and simulations (basic concepts including concept of force fields).
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