INI CET Microbiology Syllabus

Microbiology syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Microbiology in INI CET, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   General Microbiology

   5 topics

   • Introduction to Microbiology
     • Historical perspective
     • Scope and significance of microbiology
   • Microbial Classification
     • Bacteria
     • Viruses
     • Fungi
     • Protozoa
     • Helminths
   • Microbial Structure
     • Cell morphology
     • Structure
     • Function
   • Microbial Growth and Nutrition
     • Growth requirements
     • Culture media
     • Methods of microbial cultivation
   • Sterilization and Disinfection
     • Physical methods of microbial control
     • Chemical methods of microbial control
2. 2

   Bacteriology

   6 topics

   • Bacterial morphology
     • Shapes
     • Arrangements
     • Staining characteristics
   • Bacterial genetics
     • Plasmids
     • Transposons
     • Bacterial conjugation
     • Transformation
     • Transduction
   • Bacterial metabolism
     • Aerobic and anaerobic respiration
     • Fermentation
     • Metabolic pathways
   • Bacterial pathogenesis
     • Virulence factors
     • Mechanisms of pathogenicity
     • Host defense mechanisms
   • Clinical microbiology
     • Laboratory diagnosis of bacterial infections
     • Culture techniques
     • Antibiotic susceptibility testing
   • Important bacterial pathogens
     • Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria causing respiratory infections
     • Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria causing gastrointestinal infections
     • Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria causing urinary infections
     • Gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria causing other infections
3. 3

   Viral structure

   1 topic

   • Classification, morphology, and composition of viruses
4. 4

   Fungal morphology

   1 topic

   • Yeasts, molds, and dimorphic fungi
5. 5

   Parasite classification

   1 topic

   • Protozoa and helminths
6. 6

   Immune system components

   1 topic

   • Innate immunity and adaptive immunity

Microbiology flashcards for INI CET

24 of 50 cards from the Microbiology deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is microbiology, and which major groups of organisms does it study?

   Microbiology is the study of microorganisms—organisms too small to see with the naked eye. It covers bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, algae, and helminths (and their study includes bacteriology, virology, mycology, parasitology, and immunology).

2. What are the three domains of life in the modern (Woese) classification, and which contain prokaryotes?

   Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya. Bacteria and Archaea are prokaryotes; Eukarya are eukaryotes.

3. List the taxonomic hierarchy used to classify bacteria from broadest to most specific.

   Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

4. What three criteria are classically used to classify and identify bacteria?

   Morphology (shape and arrangement), staining reaction (e.g., Gram, acid-fast), and biochemical/metabolic properties (plus, modern: genetic/16S rRNA sequencing).

5. What is the key difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells regarding the nucleus and organelles?

   Prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound nucleus and membrane-bound organelles (DNA is a single circular chromosome in the nucleoid); eukaryotes have a true nucleus and membrane-bound organelles (mitochondria, ER, etc.).

6. What is the chemical component responsible for rigidity of the bacterial cell wall, and what is its repeating backbone?

   Peptidoglycan (murein); its backbone is alternating N-acetylglucosamine (NAG) and N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM) cross-linked by peptide bridges.

7. How does the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria differ structurally from Gram-negative bacteria?

   Gram-positive: thick peptidoglycan layer with teichoic acids, no outer membrane. Gram-negative: thin peptidoglycan layer plus an outer membrane containing lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and a periplasmic space.

8. What bacterial structures are responsible for motility, attachment/adherence, and resistance to phagocytosis, respectively?

   Flagella provide motility; fimbriae/pili provide attachment; the capsule (polysaccharide) resists phagocytosis.

9. What is an endospore and which two genera classically form them?

   An endospore is a dormant, highly resistant survival structure formed by some bacteria. The classic spore-forming genera are Bacillus (aerobic) and Clostridium (anaerobic).

10. Define the four phases of the bacterial growth curve.

    Lag phase (adaptation, no division), Log/exponential phase (maximal division), Stationary phase (growth equals death, nutrient depletion), and Death/decline phase (cell death exceeds growth).

11. What is generation (doubling) time, and what is the formula for the number of cells after n generations?

    Generation time is the time required for a population to double. After n generations from N0 initial cells, N = N0 × 2^n.

12. Classify bacteria by oxygen requirement into the five main groups.

    Obligate aerobes (need O2), obligate anaerobes (killed by O2), facultative anaerobes (with or without O2), microaerophiles (need low O2), and aerotolerant anaerobes (tolerate but don't use O2).

13. Define the nutritional categories chemoheterotroph, photoautotroph, chemoautotroph, and photoheterotroph by energy and carbon source.

    Chemoheterotroph: chemical energy + organic carbon. Photoautotroph: light energy + CO2. Chemoautotroph: chemical (inorganic) energy + CO2. Photoheterotroph: light energy + organic carbon.

14. What is the difference between sterilization and disinfection?

    Sterilization is the complete killing/removal of ALL microorganisms including spores. Disinfection is the killing of pathogenic (vegetative) microbes on inanimate surfaces, but does not necessarily destroy all spores.

15. What is an autoclave, and the standard temperature, pressure, and time it uses?

    An autoclave sterilizes with moist heat (saturated steam under pressure). Standard cycle: 121°C at 15 psi (1.05 kg/cm²) for 15–20 minutes.

16. What is the difference between an antiseptic and a disinfectant?

    An antiseptic is applied to living tissue/skin to inhibit or kill microbes; a disinfectant is applied to inanimate objects/surfaces.

17. Which sterilization method uses ethylene oxide, and what is it used for?

    Gaseous (chemical) sterilization with ethylene oxide is used for heat-sensitive items such as plastics, catheters, and endoscopes.

18. Name the basic bacterial shapes and give an example arrangement of cocci.

    Cocci (spheres), bacilli (rods), spirilla/spirochetes (spiral), and vibrios (comma-shaped). Cocci arrangements include diplococci (pairs), streptococci (chains), staphylococci (clusters), and tetrads.

19. In the Gram stain, what colors do Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria appear, and why?

    Gram-positive appear purple/violet (retain crystal violet–iodine complex in thick peptidoglycan); Gram-negative appear pink/red (lose the complex after decolorization and take up safranin counterstain).

20. What stain is used for Mycobacteria, and why is the routine Gram stain ineffective?

    The acid-fast (Ziehl-Neelsen) stain. Mycobacteria have a waxy mycolic-acid-rich cell wall that resists Gram staining; acid-fast bacteria appear red against a blue background.

21. What are the three mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria?

    Transformation (uptake of free naked DNA from the environment), transduction (DNA transferred by a bacteriophage), and conjugation (direct cell-to-cell transfer via a sex pilus, often of a plasmid).

22. What is a plasmid and why is it medically important?

    A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal, self-replicating circular DNA molecule. It is important because it often carries antibiotic-resistance genes, virulence factors, and can transfer between bacteria via conjugation.

23. What is a transposon ("jumping gene")?

    A transposon is a mobile DNA segment that can move from one location to another within or between chromosomes and plasmids, often spreading antibiotic-resistance genes.

24. Differentiate fermentation from aerobic respiration in terms of final electron acceptor and ATP yield.

    Fermentation uses an organic molecule (e.g., pyruvate) as the final electron acceptor and yields little ATP (~2 per glucose via substrate-level phosphorylation). Aerobic respiration uses O2 as the final electron acceptor and yields much more ATP (~38 per glucose).

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