KLE UGAIET Biology Syllabus

The Living World

Nature and Scope of Biology. Methods of Biology. Our Place in the universe. Laws that governs the Universe and life. Level of organization. Cause and effect relationship.Being alive. What does it mean? Present approach to understand life processes: Molecular approach; life as an expression of energy; steady state and homeostasis; self duplication and survival, adaptation; death as a positive part of life. An attempt to define life in the above. Origin of Life and its maintenance. Origin and diversity of life. Physical and chemical principles that maintain life processes, the living crust and interdependence. The positive and negative aspects of progress in biological sciences. The future of the living world, identification of human responsibility in shaping our future.

Cell as a unit of life. Small bimolecules; water, minerals, mono and oligosaccharides, lipids, amino acids, nucleotides and their chemistry, cellular locations and function. Macromolecules in cells-their chemistry, Cellular location and functional significance  Polysaccharides, proteins and nucleic acids. Enzymes; chemical nature, classification, mechanism in action-enzyme complex, allosteric Modulation (brief), irreversible activation, Biomembrance. Fluid mosaic model of membrane in transport recognition of external information (brief).Structutl orgainsation of the cell; light and electron microscopic views of cell, its organelles and their functions; Nucleus mitochondria chloroplasts, endoplasmic reticulum. Golgi complex, Lysosomes, microtubules, cell wall, cilia, and flagella, vacuoles, cell inclusion. A general account of cellular respiration.

Fermentation, biological oxidation (a cycle outline), mitochondrial electron transport chain, high energy bonds and oxidative phosphorylation, cell reproduction; Process of mitosis and Meiosis.

Diversity of life:

Introduction: The enormous variety of living things, the need for classification to cope with this variety, taxonomy and phylogeny; shortcomings of a two kingdom classification as plants and animals; a five kingdom classification. Monera, Protista, Plantae, Fungi and Animalia.

The basic features of five kingdom classification, modes of obtaining nutrition-autorophs and heterotrophs. Life styles; producers. consumers and decomposers, Unicellularity and multicellularity phylogentic relationships. Concepts of species, taxon and categories hierarchical levels of classification; binomial nomenclature; principles of classification and nomenclature; identification and nature of viruses and bacteriophages and organisms kingdom Moera-archeabacteris-life in extreme environments, Bacteria, actinomycetes, Cyanobacteris. Examples to illustrate autotrophic and heterotrophic life style; mineralizer – nitrogen fixers; Monera in cycling matter, symbiotic forms; disease producers.

Kingdom Protisa-Eucaryon, Unicellular organisms; development of flagella and cilia; beginning of mitosis; syngamy and sex. Various lifestyles shown in the major phyla. Evolutionary precursors of complex life forms. Diatoms, dinoflagellates, slime moulds, protozons; symbiotic forms.

Plants kingdom-complex autotrophs,red brown and green algae; conquest of land,bryophytes,ferms.gymnosperms and angiospherms.Vasculrization;development of flower, fruit and seed, Kingdom fungi-lower fungi (Zygomycetes)higher fungi; (Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes, the importance of fungi Decomposers;parasitics forms; lichens and mycorrhizae,animal kingdom-animal body pattern and symmetry, the development of body cavity in invertebrate,vertebrate physia.Salient feature with reference to habitat and examples of phylumporifera, coelenterata, helminthas, annelids, mollusca, arthropoda, ethindoerms, chordata – (classes fishes amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammal) highlighting major characters.

Organism and Environment:

Species: Origin and concepts of species population: interaction between environment and population community, interaction between different species, biotic stability, changes in the community-succession, Ecosystem; Interaction between biotic and abiotic components; major ecosystems

Man made ecosystem- Agroecosytem. Biosphere; flow of energy, trapping of solar energy, energy pathway, food chain, food web, biogeochemical cycles, calcium and sulphur, ecological imbalance and its consequences. Conservation of natural resources; renewable and non-renewable (in Brief).Water and land management, wasteland development. Wild life and forest conservation; causes for the extinction of some wild life, steps taken to conserve the remaining species, concepts of endangered species-Indian examples, conservation of forest; Indian forests, importance of forest, hazards of deforestation, aforestation. Environment pollution; air and water pollution, sources, major pollutants of big cities of our country, their effects and methods of control, pollution due to nuclear fallout and waste disposal, effect and control ,noise pollution; sources and effects.

Multicellularity: Structure and Function- Plant Life

Form and function. Tissue system in flowing plants; meristematic and permanent. Minerals nutrition – essential elements, major functions of different elements, passive and active uptake of minerals. Modes of nutrition, transport of solutes and water in plants, Photosynthesis; photochemical and biosynthetic phases, diversity in  hotosynthetic pathways, photosynthetic electron transport and photophosphorylation, photorespiration.Transpiration and exchange of gases.Stomatal mechanism. Osmoregulation in plants, water relations in plants cells, water potential. Reproduction and development in Angiosperms plants; asexual and sexual. Structure and functions of flower: development of male and female gametophytes in angiosperms, pollination, Fertilization and development of endosperms, embryo seed and fruit. Differentiation and organ formation. Plant hormones and growth regulation; Action of plant hormones in relation to seed dormancy and germination, apical dominance, senescence and abscission. Applications of synthetic growth regulators. A brief account of growth and movements in plants, rhotomorphogenesis in plants including a brief account of phytochrome.

Fllulticelluriarity: Structure and Function –Animal Life

Animal tissues, epithelial, connective, musculear, nerve. Animal nutrition; organs of digestion and digestive process, nutritional requirements for carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins: nutritional imbalances and deficiency diseases. Gas exchange and transport: Pulmonary gas exchange and organs involved, transport of gases in blood gas exchange in aqueous media.

Circulation: closed and open vascular systems, structure and pumping action of hearts, arterial blood pressure,lymph.Excreation and osomoregulation. Ammonotelism, Ureotelism, uricotelism, execration of water and urea with special reference to man. Role of kidney in regulation of plasma, osmolarity on the basis of nephron structure, skin and lung in excretion. Hormonal coordination; hormones of mammals, role of hormones as messengers and regulators. Nervous coordination, central autonomic and peripheral nervous systems,receptors,effectors reflex,action,basic physiology of special senses, integrative control by neuroendocrinal systems. Locomotion; joints, muscle movements, types of skeletal muscles according to types of movement, basic aspects of human skeleton. Reproduction; human reproducation, female reproductive cycles. Embryonic development in mammals (up to three germs layers), growth, repair and ageing.

Continuity of Life:

Heredity and variation: Introducation, Mendel’s experiments with peas and idea of factors. Mendel’s law of inheritance. Genes: Packing of heredity material in prokaryestes-bacterial chromosome; plasmid and eukaryote chromosome, Extrnuclear genes, viral genes. Linkage (genetic) maps.Sex determination and sexlinkage.Genetic material and its replication, gene manipulation. Gene expression; gentic code, transcription, translation, gene regulation. Molecular basis of differentiation.

Origin and Evolution of Life

Origin of life: Living and non-living, chemical evolution, organic evolution: Oparin ideas, Miller-Urey experiments. Interrelationship among living organisms and evidence of evolution fossil records including geological time scale.

Morphological evidence – hemolgy, vestigial organs, embryological similarities and biogeographically evidence. Darwin’s two major contributions. Common origin of living organisms and recombination as a sources of variability, selection acts upon variation, adaption (Lederberg’s replica plating experiment for indirect selection of bacterial mutants), reproductive isolation, speciation. Role of selection change and drift in determining composition of population. Selected examples : industrial melanism; drug resisitence,mimicry,malaria in relation to g-6-PD deficiency and sickle cell diseases. Human evolution: Paleontological evidence, man; s place among mammals. B idea of Dryopithecus,Australopithecus,home erectus,H.neadnderthlensis,Cromagnon man and homo sapiens, Human chromosomes, similarity in different racial groups.Comparision with chromosome of non- human prime to indicate common origin; cultural vs. biological evolution. Mutation- Their role is speciation. Their origin in speciation, their origin in organisms.

Application of Biology:

Introduction, Role of Biology in the amelioration of human problems. Domestication of plant-a historical account, improvement of crop plants; Principles of plant breeding and plant introduction. Use of fertilizers economic and ecological aspects. Use of pesticides: advantages and hazards. Biological methods of pest control. Crops today. Current concerns, Gene pools and genetic conservation. Underutilized crops with potential uses for oilseeds, medicines, beverages, spices, fodder.

New crops- Leucaena (Subabul), jojoba, Guayyle, winged bean, etc. Biofertilisers – green manure, crop residues and nitrogen fixation (symbiotic, non symbiotic). Application of tissue culture and genetic engineering in crops. Domestication and introduction of animals, Livestock, poultry, fisheries (fresh water, marl aquaculture). Improvement of animals; principles of animal breeding. Major animals diseases and their conti Insects and their products (silk, honey, wax and lac).

Bioenergy biomass, wood (combustion, gasification, enthanol Cow dung cakes, gobar gas, plants as sources of hydrocarbons for producing petroleum, ethanol from starch and lignocellulose. Biotechnology, a brief historical account-manufacture of cheese, yogurt, alcohol, yeast, vitamins, organic acids, anti-biotics, steroids, dextrins. Scaling up laboratory findings to industrial production. Production of insulin, human growth hormones, interferon. Communicable disease including STD and diseases spread through blood transfusion (hepatitis, AIDS, etc) immune response, vaccines and antisera. Allergies and inflammations, Inherited diseases and sex-linked diseases, genetic Incompatibilities, and genetic counseling, Cancer-major types, causes, diagnosis and treatment. Tissue and organ transplantation. Community health services and measures. Blood banks. Mental health, smoking, alcoholism and drug addiction-physiological symptoms and control measures. Industrial wastes, toxicology, pollution-related diseases. Biomedical engineering spare parts for man, instruments for diagnosis of diseases and care. Human population related diseases. Human population growth problems and control, inequality between sexes-control measures; test –tube babies amniocentesis. Future of Biology.

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