Concluding the preparation for the first year with Unit-I is a good idea as there is every chance of losing interest in Botany if student reads this unit first. The Unit-I consists of four chapters. The first chapter "The Living World" is a philosophical approach to the biology. Part of it is related to 8th chapter. The contents of this part like Taxonomic categories, Taxonomic aids, should be studied along with Plant systematics (chapter-8). ICBN rules of Nomenclature of Botanical names and hierarchical levels of Taxonomic groups are given in this part

1. What are the taxonomical aids? Give the importance of Herbaria and Museums.
2. Explain Binomial Nomenclature.

3. Give the salient features and importance of Chrysophytes.

4. Give a brief account of Dinoflagellates.

5. Write the role of Fungi in our daily life.

6. Differentiate between red algae and brown algae.

7. Differentiate between liverworts and mosses.

8. What is heterospory? Briefly comment on its significance.

9. Give a brief account of prothallus

Important points for NEET 2017
»  Two different but closely related species can be distinguished by their morphological features.

»   Higher the hierarchical levels lower the common characters.

»  Higher the category, greater the difficulty of determining interrelationships at that level.

»   Largest herbarium is situated at Kew, England.

»  Indian Botanical Garden is at Howrah.

»  National Botanical Institute is at Lucknow.

»   Flora contains habitat and distribution of plants of a location.

»   Criteria for Whittaker's five kingdom classification is nuclear membrane, cell structure, thallus organization, mode of nutrition, reproduction and phylogenetic relationships.

»   Autotrophic nutrition can be seen in Monera, Protista and Plantae.

»   Except in Plantae other groups show heterotrophic nutrition.

»  Archaebacteria live in extreme environment. Their cell walls are made up of pseudomurein.

»   Eubacteria cell walls are made up of peptidoglycans.

»  Cyanobacteria or blue-green algae are classified under eubacteria.

»  Cyanobacteria release oxygen during photosynthesis, fix atmospheric nitrogen with the help of heterocysts (Nostoc, Anabaena).

»  Cyanobacteria are non-motile (like Rhodophyceae). They do not show sexual reproduction. They produce endospores.

»  Red colour of red sea is due to Trichodesmium erythraeum.

»   Mycoplasmas do not have cell wall and are pleomorphic. They cause "witches broom" disease in plants and urethritis in humans.

»   Actinomycetes are filamentous like fungi. Cell wall contains mycolic acid.

»  Diatoms are included in Chrysophytes. Cell walls are embedded with silica. Body is with two overlapping shells.

»   Auxospores in diatoms are rejuvenating spores. Diatoms can divide by binary fission.

»   Dinoflagellates are called as whirling whips. Interphasic nucleus also shows condensed chromosomes. This is called mesokaryon.

»  Red tides in Mediterranean Sea is due to Gonyaulax. Noctiluca shows bioluminescence.

»   Euglenoids are both autotrophic & heterotrophic, with no cell wall.

»   They have two flagella, undergo longitudinal binary fission and show palmella stage in the life cycle.

»  Slime molds are saprophytic, no cell wall is present. They aggregate to form into a multinucleate network like structure called plasmodium. They produce spores in their fruiting bodies.

»  Fungi are haploid structures with zygotic meiosis. Delayed karyogamy results in dikaryotic phases.

»  Fungi classified on the basis of morphology of mycelium, mode of reproduction and fruiting body form.

»   Phycomycetes are coenocytic, aseptate. Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes are septate.

»  Fruiting bodies are closed cleistothecium, saucer shaped apothecium and flasked shaped perithecium.

»   Albugo is parasitic on mustard. Puccinia causes rust and Ustilago causes smut.

»   Deuteromycetes are imperfect fungi without sexual stage in their life cycles.

»   Alternaria causes early blight and Colletotrichum causes red rot.

»   Carl Woese proposed six kingdom classification. Criteria is RNA.

»   Pasteur called viruses as "Venom or poisonous fluid".

»   Viroids are discovered by T.O. Diener. It is without protein. Infectious agent is RNA.

»   Viroids cause disease only in plants. Ex: Potato spindle tuber disease.

»   Prions are proteinaceous infectious particles. They cause diseases in animals. Ex: Scrapie disease in sheep. Mad cow disease in all animals.

»   Lichens are symbiotic association between fungi and algae. They do not find place in six kingdom classification.

»   "Atharvana Veda" is the oldest book with information on plants.

»   "Krishiparasaram" is the oldest book on agriculture.

»   "Vrikshayurveda", a book on medicinal plants described different types of forests, external and internal characters of plants.

»   Stephen Hales proposed root pressure theories.

»   Techniques in plant tissue culture are improved by Hanning, Shimakura, Skoog, White, Nitsch and Maheshwari.

»   Wodehouse, P.K.K.Nair, C.G.K. Ramanujam are palynologists.

»   Arnica is a medicinal plant, Jatropa - petro plant, Azolla - biofertilizer.

»   Chlorophyceae shows chlorophyll a, b pigments, Pheophyceae a, c and Rhodophyceae a, d.

»   Flagella in Chlorophyceae are 2-8 anterior and equal. In Pheophyceae 2 unequal and lateral. In Rhodophyceae no flagella.

»   Stored food in Pheophyceae is mannitol and laminarin. In Rhodophyceae floridean starch.

»   Female sex organ in Rhodophyceae is flask shaped carpogonium.

»   Bryophytes are primitive embryophytes.

»   Pterydophytes are primitive tracheophytes.

»   Primitive seed plants are Gymnosperms. Fruits are seen only in Angiosperms.

»   Sporophytes in bryophytes show Foot, Seta, Capsule.

»  In Liverworts elaters help in spore dispersal, pseu-elaters in Hornworts, peristomial teeth in Mosses.

»   Stele is protostele in Pterydophytes, eustele in Gymnosperms.

»  Vessels are absent in Pterydophytes and Gymnosperms. Gnetum is Gymnosperm with vessels.

»  All Bryophytes are homosporous. Some Pterydophytes are heterosporous (Selaginella, Salvinia).

»  Fern characters in Cycas are circinate vernation, ramenta, presence of archegonia.

»   Largest ovules and gametes are seen in Cycas.

»   Life cycles of Equisetum and Laminaria are haplo-diplontic. Fucus - diplontic. Polysiphonia - diplo-haplontic.

1. Assertion (A): Taxonomy deals with the science of classification of living organisms, while systematic explains the relationships between the organisms.
Reason (R): Both taxonomy and systematic deal with living organisms which are classified based on hierarchy, taxonomy is governed by biological laws or rules while systematic in addition deals with biological interaction.
1) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
2) (A) is true but (R) is false
3) (A) is false, but (R) is true
4) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)

2. Identify the mismatch.
1) Stephen Hales - Conduction of water
2) F.W. Went - Auxin
3) Camerarius - Sexual reproduction in plants
4) Knoll and Ruska - Techniques in tissue culture

3. Match the following.
List-I
A) Flora 
B) Manual
C) Key 
D) Monograph
List-II
I) Identification of names of species found in an area
II) Information of any one taxon
III) Distribution of plant species in a particular area
IV) Identification of plants and animals based on contrasting characters
1) I III IV II
2) III I IV II
3) III II I IV
4) IV II I III

4. A student observed a water drop under microscope. He found a photosynthetic organism. Its cell walls form two thin overlapping shells, which fit together as in a soap box. Which of the following organism it is:
1) Euglenoid
2) Dinoflagellate
3) Sporozoans
4) Diatom

5. One of the major components of cell wall of most fungi is:
1) Chitin
2) Peptidoglycan
3) Cellulose
4) Hemicellulose