ARS Main: Descriptive-Previous Questions - Agricultural Bio-Technology (2010)

ARS-NET Previous Question Paper

1. What are gene libraries? Discuss the utility of genomic libraries in functional and structural genomics.

2. What are the merits and demerits of different technique for introducing foreign DNA into plant cells? Discuss the structural organization of the Ti plasmid and T-DNA.

3. Compare and contrast between followings:-

a) Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Ribosomes

b) Southern vs.Northern hybridisation

c) Chromosome walking vs.Chromosome jumping

d) Gene tagging vs.Genome mapping

4. After genetic transformation, how the cells carrying the recombinant vectors are selected? Enlist advantages and disadvantages of various selection methods. Give an analytical account, why in many cases, even if the transgenic is obtained in the transgenic plants?

5. What is RNAi technology? What are the possible applications of this technology in agriculture and crop improvement? How it differs from post transcriptional gene silencing?

6. What is genomics? What do you understand “complete genome sequencing”? What is the advantage of using BAC in such sequencing programmes? Give a brief account of any two plant sequencing projects in India.

7. What is the microarray technique? How can it be used to differentiate a normal plant from diseased plant? Discuss the application of this application s of this technique in plant biology.

8. A) What are the genetic engineering strategies to create the following traits in transgenic crops- a) abiotic stress b) virus resistance?

B) What is ‘golden rice’?How was it developed?

9. What are the requirements for establishing a plant tissue culture laboratory? Write a note on the composition and preparation methods of plant tissue culture medium for transgenic crops.

10. What is restriction modification system? Give a detailed account of restriction systems in bacteria .Why are they so important in recombinant DNA technology?

11. Discuss various potential and realized applications of genetic engineering in crop improvement. Give suitable examples to justify the statements.

12. Define ‘allele mining’. How is it helpful for crop improvement? Write strategies for ‘allele mining’.

13. What is QTL mapping? How it is different from associate mapping? How candidate gene and Germplasm sets are selected for associate mapping?

14. What is biodiesel? Which crops are potential source of biodiesel? How production potential of these crops can be increased by using biotechnological tools?

15. What are molecular probes? How can these prepared and labelled? Discuss their utility.

16. Outline the events involved in translation of mRNA into polypeptide in prokaryotes?

17. Write short notes on the following:

i) Site directed mutagenesisii) Frame shift mutationsiii)Suppressor mutationsiv) Base analogs

18. Explain different types of nucleic acid hybridization and their applications in molecular biology.

19. Discuss the different methods of production of haploids in plants with their relative merits and demerits. Discuss use of haploids in plant breeding and gene mapping in comparison to conventional methods.

20. What is RNA splicing? How is it different from RNA editing?