AFMC / NEET-linked AFMC Admission Botany (NEET-UG Biology: Plant Sciences) Syllabus

Botany (NEET-UG Biology: Plant Sciences) syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Botany (NEET-UG Biology: Plant Sciences) in AFMC / NEET-linked AFMC Admission, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Diversity and Structural Organisation in Plants

   4 topics

   • Biological Classification
     • Five kingdom classification
     • Monera, Protista, Fungi
     • Viruses, viroids and lichens
   • Plant Kingdom
     • Algae, bryophytes and pteridophytes
     • Gymnosperms and angiosperms
     • Plant life cycles and alternation of generations
   • Morphology of Flowering Plants
     • Root, stem, leaf modifications
     • Inflorescence, flower, fruit and seed
     • Floral formula and families
   • Anatomy of Flowering Plants
     • Tissues and tissue systems
     • Primary and secondary growth
     • Anatomy of dicot and monocot
2. 2

   Cell Biology and Genetics

   4 topics

   • Cell: The Unit of Life
     • Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
     • Cell organelles and their functions
     • Cell membrane and cell wall
   • Cell Cycle and Cell Division
     • Mitosis and its phases
     • Meiosis and significance
   • Principles of Inheritance and Variation
     • Mendelian inheritance and deviations
     • Linkage, recombination and chromosomal theory
     • Mutations and genetic disorders
   • Molecular Basis of Inheritance
     • DNA structure and replication
     • Transcription, translation and genetic code
     • Gene regulation (lac operon)
3. 3

   Plant Physiology

   5 topics

   • Transport in Plants
     • Diffusion, osmosis and water potential
     • Transpiration and ascent of sap
     • Translocation of solutes
   • Mineral Nutrition
     • Essential elements and deficiency symptoms
     • Nitrogen metabolism and biological fixation
   • Photosynthesis in Higher Plants
     • Light and dark reactions
     • C3, C4 and CAM pathways
     • Photorespiration and factors affecting
   • Respiration in Plants
     • Glycolysis, Krebs cycle and ETC
     • Fermentation and respiratory quotient
   • Plant Growth and Development
     • Growth phases and plant growth regulators
     • Photoperiodism and vernalisation
4. 4

   Reproduction in Plants

   3 topics

   • Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants
     • Microsporogenesis and megasporogenesis
     • Pollination and double fertilisation
     • Embryo and seed development; apomixis
   • Strategies for Enhancement in Food Production
     • Plant breeding and tissue culture
     • Single cell protein and biofortification
   • Asexual and Vegetative Reproduction
     • Methods of asexual reproduction in plants
     • Natural and artificial vegetative propagation
5. 5

   Ecology and Biotechnology in Plants

   4 topics

   • Organisms and Populations
     • Population attributes and growth models
     • Species interactions
   • Ecosystem
     • Energy flow and ecological pyramids
     • Nutrient cycling and ecological succession
   • Biodiversity and Conservation
     • Patterns and importance of biodiversity
     • In-situ and ex-situ conservation
   • Biotechnology Principles and Applications
     • Recombinant DNA technology and tools
     • Bt crops, RNAi and transgenic plants

Botany (NEET-UG Biology: Plant Sciences) flashcards for AFMC / NEET-linked AFMC Admission

22 of 51 cards from the Botany (NEET-UG Biology: Plant Sciences) deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In the five-kingdom classification proposed by R.H. Whittaker (1969), what are the five kingdoms and the main criteria used?

   Kingdoms: Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia. Criteria: cell structure (prokaryote/eukaryote), body organisation, mode of nutrition, reproduction and phylogenetic relationships.

2. What are the three domains in the modern three-domain system, and which kingdom did it split?

   Domains: Archaea (Archaebacteria), Bacteria (Eubacteria), and Eukarya. It splits the kingdom Monera into Archaea and Bacteria.

3. How are bacteria classified by shape, with the name for each form?

   Coccus (spherical), Bacillus (rod-shaped), Vibrio (comma-shaped), Spirillum (spiral).

4. In dinoflagellates, what causes 'red tides' and what is the pigment basis of their colour?

   Rapid blooms of red dinoflagellates (e.g. Gonyaulax) cause red tides; their colour depends on the main pigments present (red, blue, green, yellow, brown), often due to red pigments.

5. What are the three groups of slime moulds and saprophytic protists, and how do Myxomycetes feed?

   Slime moulds are saprophytic protists; under suitable conditions they form an aggregation called a plasmodium that engulfs organic matter and forms spore-bearing fruiting bodies under unfavourable conditions.

6. Name the four classes of Kingdom Fungi and a distinctive feature of each.

   Phycomycetes (aseptate coenocytic hyphae), Ascomycetes (sac fungi, ascospores in asci), Basidiomycetes (club fungi, basidiospores on basidium), Deuteromycetes (Fungi Imperfecti, only asexual/vegetative phase known).

7. What are lichens and what is the mutualistic relationship within them?

   Lichens are symbiotic associations between an alga (phycobiont, photosynthesises) and a fungus (mycobiont, provides shelter, absorbs water and minerals). They are good pollution indicators.

8. What are the three main classes of algae and their stored food/pigments?

   Chlorophyceae (green; chlorophyll a,b; store starch), Phaeophyceae (brown; chlorophyll a,c, fucoxanthin; store laminarin/mannitol), Rhodophyceae (red; chlorophyll a,d, phycoerythrin; store floridean starch).

9. What defines a bryophyte and which generation is dominant?

   Bryophytes (e.g. mosses, liverworts) are 'amphibians of the plant kingdom'; they lack vascular tissue and have a dominant, photosynthetic, free-living gametophyte; the sporophyte is dependent on it.

10. What are the key features of pteridophytes including their dominant generation?

    Pteridophytes (e.g. ferns) are the first true vascular plants (xylem and phloem); the dominant generation is the diploid sporophyte; gametophyte is a small free-living prothallus requiring water for fertilisation.

11. What is heterospory and in which plant groups does it occur?

    Heterospory is the production of two kinds of spores: microspores and megaspores. It occurs in some pteridophytes (e.g. Selaginella, Salvinia) and in all gymnosperms and angiosperms; it is a precursor to seed habit.

12. How do gymnosperms differ from angiosperms in seed and ovule arrangement?

    Gymnosperms bear naked (uncovered) ovules/seeds not enclosed in an ovary; angiosperms have ovules enclosed within an ovary that matures into a fruit containing seeds.

13. What is double fertilisation in angiosperms and what two products result?

    One male gamete fuses with the egg (syngamy) forming the diploid zygote; the second fuses with the two polar nuclei (triple fusion) forming the triploid primary endosperm nucleus. Products: zygote (2n) and endosperm (3n).

14. Differentiate a taproot system from a fibrous root system with an example of each.

    Taproot: a primary root with lateral branches, found in dicots (e.g. mustard). Fibrous: a cluster of thin roots from the stem base, found in monocots (e.g. wheat).

15. What are the three types of aestivation in flowers? Give the defining arrangement of each.

    Valvate (margins touch without overlap), Twisted/contorted (one margin overlaps the next regularly), Imbricate (margins overlap irregularly), and Vexillary (papilionaceous arrangement in pea).

16. Define racemose vs cymose inflorescence by their growth pattern.

    Racemose: the main axis continues to grow and flowers are borne laterally in acropetal succession (oldest at base). Cymose: the main axis terminates in a flower, so growth is limited and flowers arise in basipetal order.

17. What is parietal vs axile vs marginal placentation?

    Marginal: ovules along the ventral suture of a single locule (pea). Axile: placenta is axial, ovules attached in a multilocular ovary (china rose, tomato). Parietal: ovules on the inner ovary wall, ovary one-chambered (mustard).

18. Write the floral formula symbols for actinomorphic, zygomorphic, bisexual, and superior ovary.

    Actinomorphic: ⊕ (radial symmetry); Zygomorphic: % (bilateral); Bisexual: ⚥; Superior ovary: G with a line beneath the gynoecium number (G̲).

19. What are the three types of permanent tissues, and which simple tissues fall under ground tissue?

    Simple (parenchyma, collenchyma, sclerenchyma) and complex (xylem, phloem) tissues. Ground tissue includes parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma.

20. Name the components of xylem and phloem.

    Xylem: tracheids, vessels, xylem fibres, xylem parenchyma. Phloem: sieve tube elements, companion cells, phloem fibres, phloem parenchyma.

21. What is the function and location of the Casparian strip?

    The Casparian strip is a suberin band in the radial and tangential walls of the root endodermis; it blocks the apoplastic pathway, forcing water and minerals through the symplast and regulating their entry into the stele.

22. How do you anatomically distinguish a monocot stem from a dicot stem?

    Monocot stem: scattered, closed (no cambium) vascular bundles, no secondary growth, ground tissue not differentiated. Dicot stem: vascular bundles in a ring, open (with cambium), capable of secondary growth, differentiated cortex and pith.

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