Botany Paper – I UPSC Mains Syllabus
1. Microbiology and Plant Pathology: Structure and reproduction/multiplication of viruses, viroids, bacteria, fungi and mycoplasma;
- Applications of microbiology in agriculture, industry, medicine and in control of soil and water pollution;
- Prion and Prion hypothesis.
- Important crop diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma, fungi and nematodes;
- Modes of infection and dissemination; Molecular basis of infection and disease resistance/defence; Physiology of parasitism and control measures; Fungal toxins;
- Modelling and disease forecasting; Plant quarantine.
2. Cryptogams: Algae, fungi, lichens, bryophytes, pteridophytes – structure and reproduction from evolutionary viewpoint; Distribution of Cryptogams in India and their ecological and economic importance.
3. Phanerogams: Gymnosperms: Concept of Progymnosperms; Classification and distribution of gymnosperms; Salient features of Cycadales, Ginkgoales, Coniferales and Gnetales, their structure and reproduction;
- General account of Cycadofilicales, Bennettitales and Cordaitales;
- Geological time scale; Type of fossils and their study techniques.
- Angiosperms: Systematics, anatomy, embryology, palynology and phylogeny.
- Taxonomic hierarchy; International Code of Botanical Nomenclature; Numerical taxonomy and chemotaxonomy; Evidence from anatomy, embryology and palynology.
- Origin and evolution of angiosperms; Comparative account of various systems of classification of angiosperms; Study of angiospermic families – Mangnoliaceae, Ranunculaceae, Brassicaceae, Rosaceae, Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Apiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Verbenaceae, Solanaceae, Rubiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae, Arecaceae, Liliaceae, Musaceae and Orchidaceae.
- Stomata and their types; Glandular and non-glandular trichomes; Unusual secondary growth; Anatomy of C3 and C4 plants; Xylem and phloem differentiation; Wood anatomy.
- Development of male and female gametophytes, pollination, fertilization; Endosperm – its development and function;
- Patterns of embryo development; Polyembroyony and apomixes; Applications of palynology; Experimental embryology including pollen storage and test-tube fertilization.
4. Plant Resource Development: Domestication and introduction of plants; Origin of cultivated plants; Vavilov’s centres of origin;
- Plants as sources for food, fodder, fibre, spices, beverages, edible oils, drugs, narcotics, insecticides, timber, gums, resins and dyes, latex, cellulose, starch and its products; Perfumery;
- Importance of Ethnobotany in Indian context; Energy plantations; Botanical Gardens and Herbaria. . Morphogenesis: Totipotency, polarity, symmetry and dfferentiation;
- Cell, tissue, organ and protoplast culture; Somatic hybrids and Cybrids; Micropropagation; Somaclonal variation and its applications; Pollen haploids, embryo rescue methods and their applications.