Diversity in Living World

The Living World: What is living? Biodiversity; Need for classification; three domains of life taxonomy and systematics; concepts of species and taxonomical hierarchy; binomial; nomenclature; tools for study of taxonomy- museums, zoological parks, herbaria, botanical gardens.

Biological Classification: Five kingdom classification; Salient features and classification of Monera, Protista and Fungi into major groups: Lichens, Viruses and Viroids

Plant Kingdom: Salient features and classification of plants into major groups - Algae, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae and Angiospermae (three to five salient and distinguishing features and at least two examples of each category); Angiosperms - classification upto class,

Animal Kingdom: Salient features and classification of animals, non-chordates up to phyla level and chordates up to class level (three to five salient features and at least two examples of each category).

Structural Organization in Animals and Plants

Morphology of Flowering Plants: Morphology and modifications: Morphology of different parts of flowering plants: root, stem, leaf, inflorescence, flower, fruit.

Anatomy of Flowering Plants: Anatomy and functions of different tissues and tissue systems.

Structural Organisation in Animals: Animal tissues; Morphology, anatomy and functions of different systems (digestive, circulatory, respiratory, nervous and reproductive) of an insect (cockroach)

Cell Structure and Function

Cell-The Unit of Life: Cell theory and cell as the basic unit of life: Structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells; Plant cell and animal cell; cell envelope; cell membrane, cell wall; cell organelles - structure and function; endomembrane system, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi bodies, lysosomes, vacuoles; mitochondria, ribosomes, plastids, microbodies; cytoskeleton, cilia, flagella, centrioles (ultrastructure and function); nucleus.

Biomolecules: Chemical constituents of living cells: biomolecules, structure and function of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids; Enzymes- types, properties, enzyme action.

Plant Physiology

Transport in Plants: Movement of water gases and nutrition, cell to cell transport, plant water relations, long-distance transportation of water, transpiration, uptake and translocation of mineral nutrients, diffusion of gases

Mineral Nutrition: Essential minerals, macro- and micronutrients and their role; deficiency symptoms; metal toxicity, nitrogen metabolism, nitrogen cycle, biological nitrogen fixation

Photosynthesis in Higher Plants: Photosynthesis as a means of autotrophic nutrition; site of photosynthesis, pigments involved in photosynthesis (elementary idea); photochemical and biosynthetic phases of photosynthesis; cyclic and non-cyclic photophosphorylation; chemiosmotic hypothesis; photorespiration; C3 and C4 pathways; factors affecting photosynthesis.

Respiration in Plants: Exchange of gases, cellular respiration - glycolysis, fermentation, TCA cycle and electron transport system, respiratory quotient and amphibolic pathway 

  Plant - Growth and Development: Seed germination, phases of plant growth, differentiation, differentiation and re-differentiation, sequence of developmental process in plant cell, growth regulators, seed dormancy, vernalization, photoperiodism

Human Physiology

Breathing and Respiration: Respiratory organs in animals and humans, mechanism of breathing and its regulation in humans - exchange of gases, transport of gases and regulation of respiration, disorders related to respiration - asthma, emphysema

Body fluid and circulation: Composition of blood, blood group, cardiac cycle, regulation of cardiac activities, human circulatory system, disorders of circulatory system, ECG; double circulation; regulation of cardiac activity; disorders of circulatory system - hypertension, coronary artery disease, angina pectoris, heart failure.

Excretory products and their Elimination: Modes of excretion, human excretory system, roles of other organs in excretion, regulation of kidney function - renin - angiotensin, atrial natriuretic factor, ADH and diabetes insipidus; role of other organs in excretion; disorders - uraemia, renal failure, renal calculi, nephritis;dialysis and artificial kidney,

Locomotion and Movement: Types of movement, skeletal system and its function, disorders of muscular and skeletal system, disorders of muscular and skeletal system - myasthenia gravis, tetany, muscular dystrophy, arthritis, osteoporosis, gout.

Neural control and coordination nervous system in Humans: Neuron and nerves; Nervous system in humans - central nervous system; peripheral nervous system and visceral nervous system; generation and conduction of nerve impulse; reflex action; sensory perception; sense organs; elementary structure and functions of eye and ear. 

  Chemical coordination and Regulation: Endocrine glands and hormones; human endocrine system - hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, gonads; mechanism of hormone action (elementary idea); role of hormones as messengers and regulators, hypo - and hyperactivity and related disorders; dwarfism, acromegaly, cretinism, goiter, exophthalmic goiter, diabetes, Addison's disease.

Reproduction

Reproduction in Organism: Reproduction, a characteristic feature of all organisms for continuation of species; modes of reproduction - asexual and sexual reproduction; asexual reproduction - binary fission, sporulation, budding, gemmule formation, fragmentation; vegetative propagation in plants

Sexual reproduction in flowering plants: Flower structure; development of male and female gametophytes; pollination - types, agencies and examples; outbreeding devices; pollen-pistil interaction; double fertilization; post fertilization events - development of endosperm and embryo, development of seed and formation of fruit; special modesapomixis, parthenocarpy, polyembryony; Significance of seed dispersal and fruit formation.

Human Reproduction: Male and female reproductive systems; microscopic anatomy of testis and ovary; gametogenesis - spermatogenesis and oogenesis; menstrual cycle; fertilisation, embryo development upto blastocyst formation, implantation; pregnancy and placenta formation (elementary idea); parturition, lactation

Reproductive Health: Need for reproductive health and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs); birth control - need and methods, contraception and medical termination of pregnancy (MTP); amniocentesis; infertility and assisted reproductive technologies - IVF, ZIFT, GIFT

Genetics and Evolution

Principle of Inheritance and Variation: Heredity and variation: Mendelian inheritance; deviations from Mendelism – incomplete dominance, co- dominance, multiple alleles and inheritance of blood groups, pleiotropy; elementary idea of polygenic inheritance; chromosome theory of inheritance; chromosomes and genes; Sex determination - in humans, birds and honey bee; linkage and crossing over; sex linked inheritance - haemophilia, colour blindness; Mendelian disorders in humans -thalassemia; chromosomal disorders in humans; Down's syndrome, Turner's and Klinefelter's syndromes.

Molecular basis of Inheritance: Search for genetic material and DNA as genetic material; Structure of DNA and RNA; DNA packaging; DNA replication; Central dogma; transcription, genetic code, translation; gene expression and regulation. - lac operon; genome and human and rice genome projects; DNA fingerprinting

Evolution: Origin of life, Darwin's contribution, modern synthetic theory of evolution, mechanism of evolution, gene flow and genetic drift, Hardy - Weinberg's principle, Human evolution.

Biology and Human Welfare

Human Health and Disease: Pathogens, parasites causing human disease, basic concept of immunology - vaccines, cancer, HIV and AIDS, drug and alcohol abuse

Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production: Improvement in food production, Plant breeding, tissue culture, single cell protein, Biofortification, Apiculture and Animal husbandry.

Microbes in Human Welfare: In household food processing, industrial production, sewage treatment, energy generation and microbes as bio-control agents and bio-fertilizers. Antibiotics; production and judicious use.

Biotechnology and Its application

Biotechnology - Principles and Process: Genetic engineering
Biotechnology & its application: Application of biotechnology in health and agriculture: Human insulin and vaccine production, stem cell technology, gene therapy; genetically modified organisms - Bt crops; transgenic animals; biosafety issues, bio piracy and patents.

Ecology and environment

Organisms and Population: Organisms and environment: Habitat and niche, population and ecological adaptations; population interactions - mutualism, competition, predation, parasitism; population attributes - growth, birth rate and death rate, age distribution.

Ecosystem: Patterns, components; productivity and decomposition; energy flow; pyramids of number, biomass, energy; nutrient cycles (carbon and phosphorous); ecological succession; ecological services - carbon fixation, pollination, seed dispersal, oxygen release

Biodiversity and its conservation: Biodiversity-Concept, patterns, importance; loss of biodiversity; biodiversity conservation; hotspots, endangered organisms, extinction, Red Data Book, biosphere reserves, national parks, sanctuaries and Ramsar sites. 

  Environmental issues: Air pollution and its control; water pollution and its control; agrochemicals and their effects; solid waste management; radioactive waste management; greenhouse effect and climate change impact and mitigation; ozone layer depletion; deforestation; any one case study as success story addressing environmental issue