Post Graduate School

Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi

Examination for Admission to Ph.D. Programme 2013-2014

Discipline : Microbiology
Discipline Code : 14 Roll No.

Please Note:

(i) This question paper contains 13 pages. Please check whether all the pages are
printed in this set. Report discrepancy, if any, immediately to the invigilator.

(ii) There shall be NEGATIVE marking for WRONG answers in the Multiple
Choice type questions (No. 1 to 130) which carry one mark each. For every
wrong answer 0.25 mark will be deducted.

5. The most important sucking pests of cotton

PART – I (General Agriculture) and rice are respectively
a) Nilaparvata lugens and Aphis gossypii
Multiple choice questions (No. 1 to 30). b) Aphis gossypii and Thrips oryzae
Choose the correct answer (a, b, c or d) c) Amrasca biguttula biguttula and Scirtothrips
and enter your choice in the circle (by dorsalis
shading with a pencil) on the OMR - d) Thrips gossypii and Orseolia oryzae
answer sheet as per the instructions
6. Which of the following microorganism causes
given on the answer sheet.
fatal poisoning in canned fruits and
vegetables?
1. Who is the present Chairman of Protection of a) Aspergillus flavus
Plant Varieties and Farmers' Right Authority b) Penicillium digitatum
(PPV&FRA)? c) Clostridium botulinum
a) Dr. R.R. Hanchinal d) Rhizoctonia solani
b) Dr. P.L. Gautam
c) Dr. S. Nagarajan 7. The cause of the great Bengal Famine was
d) Dr. Swapan K. Datta a) Blast of rice
b) Brown spot of rice
2. Which among the following is another name c) Rust of wheat
for vitamin B12? d) Karnal bunt of wheat
a) Niacin
b) Pyridoxal phosphate 8. Actinomycetes belong to
c) Cobalamin a) The fungi
d) Riboflavin b) Eukaryote
c) Mycelia sterilia
3. The largest share in India's farm export d) None of the above
earning in the year 2011-12 was from
a) Basmati rice 9. A virus-free clone from a virus infected plant
b) Non-basmati rice can be obtained by
c) Sugar a) Cotyledonary leaf culture
d) Guar gum b) Axenic culture
c) Stem culture
4. The National Bureau of Agriculturally d) Meristem tip culture
Important Insects was established by ICAR
in ________, was earlier known as _______. 10. Which of the following is not an objective of
a) Bangalore; PDBC the National Food Security Mission?
b) New Delhi; National Pusa Collection a) Sustainable increase in production of rice,
c) Ranchi; Indian Lac Research Institute wheat and pulses
d) New Delhi; NCIPM b) Restoring soil fertility and productivity at
individual farm level
c) Promoting use of bio-pesticides and organic
fertilizers
d) Creation of employment opportunities
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 2

11. Agmarknet, a portal for the dissemination of 19. The term 'Heterosis' was coined by
agricultural marketing information, is a joint a) G.H. Shull
endeavour of b) W. Bateson
a) DMI and NIC c) T.H. Morgan
b) DMI and Ministry of Agriculture d) E.M. East
c) NIC and Ministry of Agriculture
d) DMI and Directorate of Economics and 20. When a transgenic plant is crossed with a
Statistics non-transgenic, what would be the zygosity
status of the F1 plant?
12. The share of agriculture and allied activities a) Homozygous
in India's GDP at constant prices in 2011-12 b) Heterozygous
was c) Hemizygous
a) 14.1% d) Nullizygous
b) 14.7%
c) 15.6% 21. The highest per capita consumption of
d) 17.0% flowers in the world is in
a) The USA
13. The average size of land holding in India b) India
according to Agricultural Census 2005-06 is c) Switzerland
a) 0.38 ha d) The Netherlands
b) 1.23 ha
c) 1.49 ha 22. Which of the following is a very rich source of
d) 1.70 ha betalain pigment?
a) Radish
14. 'Farmers First' concept was proposed by b) Beet root
a) Paul Leagans c) Carrot
b) Neils Rolling d) Red cabbage
c) Robert Chamber
d) Indira Gandhi 23. Dog ridge is
a) Salt tolerant rootstocks of mango
15. In the year 2012, GM crops were cultivated b) Salt tolerant rootstocks of guava
in an area of c) Salt tolerant rootstocks of grape
a) 150 million hectare in 18 countries d) Salt tolerant rootstocks of citrus
b) 170 million hectare in 28 countries
c) 200 million hectare in 18 countries 24. Which of the following micronutrients are
d) 1.70 million hectare in 28 countries most widely deficient in Indian soils?
a) Zinc and boron
16. The broad-spectrum systematic herbicide b) Zinc and iron
glyphosate kills the weeds by inhibiting the c) Zinc and manganese
biosynthesis of d) Zinc and copper
a) Phenylalanine
b) Alanine 25. Which of the following fertilizers is not
c) Glutamine produced in India?
d) Cysteine a) DAP
b) Urea
17. At harvest, the above ground straw (leaf, c) Muriate of potash
sheath and stem) weight and grain weight of d) TSP
paddy crop are 5.5 and 4.5 tonnes per
hectare, respectively. What is the harvest 26. What is the estimated extent of salt affected
index of paddy? soils in India?
a) 45% a) 5.42 mha
b) 50% b) 7.42 mha
c) 55% c) 11.42 mha
d) 100% d) 17.42 mha

18. Crossing over between non-sister 27. Which of the following is not a feature of
chromatids of homologous chromosomes watershed?
takes place during a) Hydrological unit
a) Leptotene b) Biophysical unit
b) Pachytene c) Socio-economic unit
c) Diplotene d) Production unit
d) Zygotene
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 3

28. Correlation coefficient 'r' lies between 34. Methanogenic bacteria cannot use the
a) 0 and 1 following substrate to produce methane on
b) -1 and 1 their own
c) -1 and 0 a) Formate
d) 0 and  b) Acetate
c) Glucose
29. For the data 1, -2, 4, geometric mean is d) Dimethyl sulphide
a) 2
b) 4 35. Anderson sampler is
7 a) An air sampler
c) -  b) A fresh water sampler
3
c) A deep sea water sampler
d) -2 d) A soil sampler
30. The relationship between Arithmetic mean 36. Considering the specificity between the
(A), Harmonic mean (H) and Geometric species of legume and rhizobial species in
mean (G) is establishing the symbiotic state, soybean is
2
a) G =AH infected by
b) G= A+H a) Azorhizobium
2
c) H =GA b) Bradyrhizobium
2
d) A =GH c) Mesorhizobium
d) Sinorhizobium

PART – II (Subject Paper) 37. Chemical structure common to both penicillin

and cephalosporin is
Multiple choice questions (No. 31 to 130). a) -lactam ring
Choose the correct answer (a, b, c or d) b) Aminoglycosides
and enter your choice in the circle (by c) Lactone ring
shading with a pencil) on the OMR - d) Naphthacene ring
answer sheet as per the instructions
38. The first antiseptic used by Joseph Lister
given on the answer sheet. was
a) Carbolic acid (Phenol)
31. In a chemostat, growth rate and growth yield
b) Methyl alcohol (Methanol)
are controlled
c) Ethyl alcohol (Ethanol)
a) Independently
d) Sulfonamides
b) By volume of the vessel
c) Depend on each other
39. The photosynthetic bacteria using inorganic
d) None of the above
electron donor for reduction of CO2 are
called
32. The sequence of stages in the formation of
a) Photoorganotrophs
microbial biofilms in nature is
b) Chemoorganotrophs
i) Cell growth and production of
c) Chemolithotrophs
polysaccharide
d) Photolithotrophs
ii) Reversible attachment of planktonic
cells
40.Wine turns sour
iii) Irreversible attachment of the same
a) On exposure to light
cells
b) Contamination by aerobic Acetobacter aceti
iv) Further development to form nearly
c) Contamination by anaerobic Lactobacillus
impenetrable mature biofilm
lactis
The correct sequence is
d) On prolonged storage
a) i, ii, iii, iv
b) ii, i, iii, iv
41. The semilog of per minute growing bacteria
c) i, iii, ii, iv
is plotted against time. The shape of the
d) ii, iii, i, iv
graph will be
a) Sigmoid
33. Each megabase of prokaryotic DNA on an
b) Hyperbolic
average encodes about
c) Ascending straight line
a) 1000 ORFs
d) Descending straight line
b) 100 ORFs
c) 10 ORFs
d) 1 ORF
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 4

42. The yeast cell wall is made up of 50. Resolution in light microscopy depends on
a) Glucans wavelength of visible light and numerical
b) Mannans aperture (NA) of objective lens. Thus
c) Cellulose and muramic acid maximum resolution can be obtained with
d) Glucan, mannan and chitin a) Shortest wavelength and minimum NA
b) Shortest wavelength and maximum NA
43. Bacteria are most susceptible to penicillin in c) Longest wavelength and minimum NA
a) Log phase d) Longest wavelength and maximum NA
b) Lag phase
c) Stationary phase 51. The following organism has 'Peritrichous'
d) Death phase arrangement of flagella
a) Pseudomonas aeruginosa
44. Staphylococcus aureus can be differentiated b) Pseudomonas fluorescens
from other staphylococci by c) Salmonella typhi
a) Coagulase test d) Rhodospirillum photometricum
b) Urcase test
c) Catalase test 52. During which phase of bacterial growth, the
d) All of the above growth rate is the reciprocal of the
generation time?
45. Prior to staining the slide, one must fix the a) Exponential phase
material to be observed. The purpose of b) Lag phase
fixation is to c) Stationary phase
a) Kill the microorganisms d) Death phase
b) Coagulate the protoplasm of the cells
c) Make it to adhere to the slide 53. The process of photosynthesis has an
d) All of the above important requirement of a chemical
reductant. The green and purple bacteria
46. The enzyme present in raw milk and is that carry out photosynthesis do not use
destroyed by adequate pasteurization is following as their chemical reductant
a) Lipase a) H2
b) Phosphatase b) H2S
c) Lyase c) H2O
d) Peroxidase d) H2S2O3

47. Both lysozyme and penicillin affect the cell 54. The first gene in the sequence of structural
wall of bacteria. The part of cell wall affected genes in lac operon codes for
is a) -galactoside permease
a) Peptidoglycan b) -galactosidase
b) Techoic acid c) Thiogalactoside transacetylase
c) Lipopolysaccharide d) None of the above
d) All of the above
55. The species of Clostridium most likely to
48. Alternate name for penicillin binding protein cause spoilage of canned foods is
is a) Clostridium sporogenes
a) Aminopeptidase b) Clostridium pasteurianum
b) Transpeptidase c) Clostridium botulinum
c) Transaminase d) Clostridium tetani
d) Aminotransferase
56. Decimal reduction time is the time in minutes
49. The lens used in the 'objective' of a to reduce the bacterial population by
compound microscope is a) 100 percent
a) Convex lens b) 90 percent
b) Concave lens c) 10 percent
c) Combination of convex and concave lens d) 1 percent
d) Plano-convex lens
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 5

57. The process of nitrification occurs in two 64. An organism is tagged with green fluorescent
steps where each step is performed by protein (GFP) and used for seed inoculation
different group of bacteria. The oxidation of in a crop. The researcher used a cross
nitrite to nitrate is exhibited by section of root to prove the presence of this
a) Nitrosomonas organism in the endorhizosphere, which
b) Nitrosovibrio microscope should be used for viewing this
c) Nitrobacter root section?
d) Nitrosococcus a) Electron microscope
b) Nomarski differential interference
58. Red algae are similar to blue green algae in microscope
having c) Phase contrast microscope
a) Similar reserve food d) Confocal scanning microscope
b) Same type of reproduction
c) Phycobilins 65. Which one of the following media is not a
d) Procaryotic nature selective/differential media?
a) Eosin Methylene blue agar
59. In a growth experiment beginning with single b) Reese minimal media
cell of bacteria having a doubling time of 30 c) Xylose lysine disoxycholate agar
minutes. The population of total number of d) Desoxycholate citrate agar
cells after incubation of 5 hours will be
a) 25 66. Removal of microorganisms by filtration
b) 28 generally is accomplished by passage
10
c) 2 through a filter of pore size
12
d) 2 a) 0.01-0.1 m
b) 0.2-0.45 m
60. Bacteria which can synthesize cellulose c) More than 0.5 m
a) Azotobacter chroococcum d) Less than 0.1 m
b) Clostridium xylinum
c) Bacillus subtilis 67. When a microbial cell grows at high
d) Acetobacter xylinum temperature, the cytoplasmic membrane has
an increased proportion of
61. Lower BOD of sewage water is an indicator a) Phospholipids
of b) Unsaturated fatty acids
a) Higher amount of toxic elements c) Ether linked lipids
b) Higher acidity d) Ester linked lipids
c) Lower organic matter content
d) Higher organic matter content 68. Lysozyme occurs as part of the following
a) Tears
62. Fusel oil will be more in wine if it is produced b) Saliva
from c) Egg white
a) Potato d) All of the above
b) Sugarcane juice
c) Grape juice 69. A Bacillus culture grown in a medium lacking
d) Pure sucrose solution calcium ion will produce
a) Normal vegetative cells
63. Passive immunity provides b) Spores lacking thermotolerance
a) Permanent protection against infection c) Defective endospores
b) Temporary protection against infection d) Cells will not multiply
c) Antibodies for a particular infection
d) No protection is provided 70. Which of the following refers to the addition
of microorganisms to the diet in order to
provide health benefits beyond basic nutritive
value?
a) Antibiotics
b) Adjuvants
c) Synbiotics
d) Probiotics
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 6

71. Transmission electron microscopy is best for 79. The enzyme produced by gene lac A in the
high magnification viewing of lac operon
a) Internal structure of live, motile cell a) -galactosidase
b) Internal structure of fixed cells b) Transacetylase
c) Surface structure of fixed cells c) Permease
d) Surface membrane of live, motile cells d) -glucosidase

72. All of the following are true about agar 80. Introduction of antisense RNA into a cell can
except that it a) Increase or over express the corresponding
o
a) Liquefies at 100 C gene
b) is a polysaccharide derived from red alga b) Reduce or prevent the expression of the
o
c) Solidifies at approximately at 40 C corresponding gene
d) is metabolized by many bacteria c) Shall have no effect on the expression of the
gene
73. If you are designing an experiment involving d) Will destroy RNA
a chemolithotrophic autotroph, which of the
following would be most essential to maintain 81. Rhodotorula is used to produce
the growth of the organism? a) Organic acid
a) A continual supply of O2 b) Enzymes
b) A source of CO2 c) Antibiotics
c) A nutrient medium containing glucose d) Lipids
d) Keeping the culture at 37oC
82. Streptomycin and neomycin belong to the
74. The addition of which of the following would class of antibiotics called
change a chemically defined medium into a a) Polypeptides
complex media? b) Amino glycosides
a) Biotin c) Macrolides
b) K2HPO4 d) Polyene
c) Maltose
d) Yeast extract 83. Beijerinckia is predominantly found in
a) Alkaline soil
75. Continuous feed during fermentation is used b) Neutral soil
to maintain c) Acidic soil
a) Temperature d) No effect of pH of soil
b) Cell number
c) Substrate concentration 84. What is the concentration of dissolved
d) Product concentration oxygen in natural water?
a) 2 mg/l
76. Mineralization refers to b) 5 mg/l
a) Conversion of inorganic complex compounds c) 10 mg/l
into simple inorganic compounds d) 15 mg/l
b) Conversion of complex organic compounds
into simple inorganic compounds 85. Which property of microorganism is used in
c) Conversion of complex organic compounds bioassay of vitamins?
into simple organic constituents a) Autotrophy
d) Conversion of inorganic complex materials b) Phototrophy
into elements c) Auxotrophy
d) Chemoheterotrophy
77. Roll tube procedure is used to isolate
a) Aerobes 86. Blanching of vegetables prior to preservation
b) Anaerobes is done mainly to denature
c) Thermopiles a) Enzymes
d) Facultative aerobes b) Carbohydrates
c) Nucleic acid
78. The repression of lac operon in the presence d) Lipids
of glucose or any other readily utilizable
substrate is referred as 87. Prions are a type of
a) Catabolite repression a) Viruses
b) Feedback inhibition b) Proteinacious particles
c) Specific termination c) Yeast-like particles
d) Metabolic induction d) Viroids
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 7

88. An example of counter stain and mordant 96. Nigrosine is used in

used in Gram's staining reaction are a) Acid fast staining
a) Safranin and alcohol b) Flagella staining
b) Crystal violet and alcohol c) Gram staining
c) Safranin and iodine d) Negative staining
d) Crystal violet and iodine
97. Rickettsias are commonly transmitted
89. Addition of lignocellulosic residues leads to through
higher population of ________ while a) Air
incorporation of succulent residues leads to b) Water
higher ________ population in soil. c) Soil
a) Fungi; bacteria d) Arthropod vectors
b) Fungi; actinobacteria
c) Bacteria; fungi 98. Which one of the following bacteria is a
d) Bacteria; algae heterotroph?
a) Erwinia
90. Chlorella is a b) Chromatium
a) Motile unicellular green alga c) Nitrosomonas
b) Motile unicellular blue-green alga d) Nitrobacter
c) Non-motile unicellular green-alga
d) Non-motile unicellular protist 99. Calcium dipicolinate is present in one of the
following layers of the bacterial endospore
91. In Entner-Doudoroff pathway, yield of ATP a) Exosporium
molecules per molecule of glucose b) Core
consumed is c) Spore coat
a) One d) Cortex
b) Two
c) Four 100. A protozoan with two types of nuclei
d) Six a) Plasmodium
b) Vorticella
92. The genus Mycoplasma is resistant to the c) Euglena
effects of d) Amoeba
a) Triclosan
b) Sulfonamides 101. The 'rust fungi' belongs to
c) Streptomycin a) Ascomycotina
d) Penicillin b) Zygomycotina
c) Basidiomycotina
93. In general, DNA viruses multiply in the cell d) Deuteromycotina
______ and RNA viruses multiply in the cell
______. 102. An energy yielding process in which
a) Vesicles; ribosomes inorganic molecules act as terminal e-
b) Cytoplasm; nucleus acceptors
c) Nucleus; cytoplasm a) Aerobic respiration
d) Endoplasmic reticulum; nucleolus b) Anaerobic respiration
c) Fermentation
94. Rice cultivated under waterlogged conditions d) Agglutination
has lower requirement for fertilizer
phosphorus then upland crop because 103. Microorganisms indigenous to a particular
a) Insoluble ferric phosphates are reduced to environment
soluble phosphates a) Autochthonous
b) There is an increase in acid production by b) Allochthonous
bacteria c) Zymogenous
c) Anaerobes are better P solubilizers d) Autogenous
d) All of the above
104. Which one of the following fungi produces
95. Dyes that are anionic or have negatively zygospores?
charged groups are called a) Penicillium
a) Acid dyes b) Fusarium
b) Basic dyes c) Aspergillus
c) Neutral dyes d) Rhizopus
d) Differential dyes
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 8

105. In fermentation one of the following serve 114. The group of bacteria commonly found in
as both electron donor and acceptor activated sludge
a) Organic molecules a) Sheathed bacteria
b) Inorganic molecules b) Appendaged bacteria
c) CO2 c) Gliding bacteria
d) Oxygen d) Budding bacteria

106. A bacterium that uses one carbon 115. A fungus used in the preparation of soya
compound as its source of carbon and tempeh
energy a) Rhizopus nigrificans
a) Methylotroph b) Rhizopus oligosporus
b) Autotroph c) Aspergillus flavus
c) Auxotroph d) Aspergillus fumigatus
d) Heterotroph
116. Cedar wood oil is used when using oil
107. An inhibitor of ETC immersion lens in microscopy because
a) Nitrite a) It has higher refractive index than glass
b) Cyanide b) It has the same refractive index as glass
c) Tannin c) It has a lower refractive index than glass
d) Nitrate d) It is easily available and easy to use

108. A food poisoning bacterium normally 117. Gelatin is not preferred as a solidifying
associated with nostrils of human beings is agent as compared to agar because
a) Salmonella typhimurium a) It can be used as a nutrient source by some
b) Staphylococcus aureus microorganisms
c) Streptococcus faecalis b) It has a higher melting point
d) Escherichia coli c) It is complex in nature
d) It is toxic to some microorganisms
109. Synbiotic refers to
a) Probiotic 118. Addition of salt during saukerant formation
b) Prebiotic leads to
c) Mixture of probiotic and prebiotic a) Favours growth of lactic acid bacteria and
d) Probiotic, prebiotic and an antibiotic kills other bacteria
b) Improves nutrient availability
110. Which one of the following organisms is c) Buffers the pH
edible? d) Lowers the turgor pressure
a) Aspergillus awamori
b) Agaricus campestris 119. Lysozyme was discovered by
c) Penicillium oxalicum a) Louis Pasteur
d) Albugo candida b) Alexander Fleming
c) Robert Koch
111. Sodium chloride used in foods as a d) Arthur Kornberg
preservative causes
a) Plasmolysis 120. The initiator t-RNA in protein synthesis of
b) Hydrolysis methanogens is
c) Glycolysis a) Methionine
d) Proteolysis b) Fomylmethionine
c) Cysteine
112. The use of -rays from cobalt source for d) Formylcysteine
control of microorganisms in food
a) Radappertization 121. In the brewing process, the term used for
b) Radication germinated barley grains heated to stop
c) Radiation germination and used as raw material is
d) Radurization known as
a) Hops
113. Water bodies that are rich nutritionally and b) Malt
support microbial growth and activities c) Must
a) Dystrophic d) Wort
b) Eutrophic
c) Oligotrophic
d) Holozoic
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 9

+ –
122. The process that converts NH 4 to NO 3 is Matching type questions (No. 131 to 140);
called all questions carry equal marks. Choose
a) Nitrogen fixation the correct answer (a, b, c, d or e) for
b) Ammonification each sub-question (i, ii, iii, iv and v) and
c) Denitrification
enter your choice in the circle (by
d) Nitrification
shading with a pencil) on the OMR -
123. Thermoplasma grows best in environments answer sheet as per the instructions
characterized by given on the answer sheet.
a) Low pH and high temperature
b) High salt and high temperature 131. Match the type of fermentation with the
c) High pressure organism/group of organisms carrying them
d) Low nutrients and high temperature out
i) Alcoholic a) Clostridium acetobutylicum
124. The approximate size of 16S rRNA is ii) Homolactic b) Yeast
a) 0.5 kb iii) Heterolactic c) Enteric bacteria
b) 1.0 kb iv) Mixed acid d) Lactobacillus
c) 1.5 kb v) Butanol e) Leuconostoc
d) 2.5 kb

125. Methanogens lack 132. Match the following shape/characteristic of

a) Superoxide dismutase microorganism with respective organism
b) Methyl CoM reductase i) Kidney or bean a) Anabaena
c) Hydrogenase shaped
d) Proteinases ii) Swarming b) Neisseria or Moraxella
iii) Rods c) Vibrio
126. The source of Pfu DNA polymerase is iv) Filamentous d) Pseudomonas aeruginosa
a) Pyrococcus v) Comma shaped, e) Proteus
b) Pyrobaculum curved
c) Pyrodictium
d) Pseudomonas
133.
127. The enzyme employed in producing i) Optical density a) Biolog
semisynthetic penicillin is ii) Serological identification b) Growth
a) Penicillin acylase iii) Physiological characterization c) PCR
b) Penicillinase iv) Molecular characterization d) Microscope
c) Penicillin transacetylase v) Morphological characterization e) ELISA
d) Homocitrate synthetase

128. Carbonic anhydrase catalyzes reversible 134.

hydration of i) Green non sulfur bacteria a) Chloroflexus
a) Carbon dioxide ii) Radiation resistance b) Cytophaga
b) Carbon monoxide iii) Salt tolerant c) Chlorobium
c) Carbon tetrachloride iv) Green sulfur bacteria d) Deinococcus
d) Carbon disulphide v) Gliding bacteria e) Halobacterium

129. In case the generation time of

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is 2 hours, its 135.
specific growth rate will be i) Thiobacillus a) Nitrifying bacteria
a) 0.15 h-1 ii) Desulfovibrio b) Iron oxidizing bacteria
b) 0.25 h-1 iii) Nitrosomonas c) Sulphur oxidizing bacteria
-1
c) 0.35 h iv) Gallionella d) Sulphate reducing bacteria
-1
d) 0.45 h v) Nostoc e) Nitrogen-fixing phototrophic
bacteria
130. Corn steep liquor stimulates penicillin
production because it contains
a) Side chain precursors
b) Precursors of ring structure
c) A high nitrogen content
d) A high carbon content
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 10

136. 139.
i) Lister a) Replica plating i) Nocard and Roux a) Bacteriophage
ii) Pruisner b) TOL plasmids ii) Beijerinck b) Bacterial transformation
iii) Chakrabarty c) Prions iii) D’Herelle and Twort c) PPLO
iv) Griffith d) R and S type of bacteria iv) Zinder and Lederberg d) Bacterial transduction
v) Joshua-Lederberg e) Antiseptic v) Griffith e) Tobacco mosaic virus

137. 140.
i) Penicillin a) Cell membrane i) Nostoc a) Arbuscule
permeability ii) Colletotrichum b) Pycnium
ii) Cycloheximide b) Antifungal iii) Acaulospora c) Heterocyst
iii) Streptomycin c) Protein synthesis iv) Puccinia d) Hartig net
iv) Interferon d) Viral replication v) Pisolithus e) Acervulus
v) Polymyxin e) Cell wall

138.
i) Krausening a) O2 transfer in
fermentation
ii) ExFerm process b) Beer production
iii) Geyser effect c) Acetic acid
iv) Reynold number d) Ethanol production
v) Orleans process e) Turbulent flow in
fermenter
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 11

Short questions (No. 141 to 146); each question carries FIVE marks. Write answers,
including computation / mathematical calculations if any, in the space provided for
each question on the question paper itself.
141. The advent of cyanobacteria is considered a critical step in evolution. Comment.

r
142. When two strains of E.coli, one carrying Ampicillin resistance (Ap ) gene and other without it were
r
mixed together in a broth, the Ap gene could be transferred from one strain to another strain.
Further, it was observed that gene transfer did not occur when two strains were kept separated in
the broth using a filter membrane (size 0.45 m pore size). What kind of genetic exchange
mechanism is taking place in these organisms? How can you rule out other types of genetic
exchange mechanisms?
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 12

143. Exposure of contaminated objects to boiling water only disinfects them while steam under pressure
for the same duration of time sterilizes them. Why?

144. How would you enrich for anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria and what is their ecological/biological
significance?
Subject : PhD – Microbiology – 2013 13

145. Discuss the significance of methanogenesis and methane oxidation in global warming, emphasizing
the importance of microorganisms and agricultural practices.

146. One of the methods of food preservation is to reduce water activity (Aw). Define this term and how
one can reduce the water activity in food/food products to prevent spoilage by microorganisms?