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UPPCS Biology Gap Sheet: Economic Biology, Useful Products and Biofertilizers.
UPPCS has asked 31 of these. 9 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
For a natural product, learn the organism, plant part and chemical together. Similar-looking products may come from different tissues; cotton is seed hair but jute is a stem fibre.
A useful compound is not proof that the whole plant cures a disease. Food, medicine and poison can share a biological source; preparation and dose change the effect. Biofertilizers are living microbes that improve nutrient availability. Nitrogen fixers convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms; phosphate-solubilising microbes release existing soil phosphate rather than creating phosphorus.
✅ Already asked (31)
Fibres and animal products
- Cotton and jute · Cotton is seed hair; jute is bast fibre from stems.
- Sunn hemp · Crotalaria juncea provides stem bast fibre.
- Coir · Fibre from coconut fruit husk, mainly the mesocarp.
- Natural rubber · Hevea latex yields mainly cis-polyisoprene.
- Mulberry silk · Bombyx mori larvae feed on mulberry; silk is a protein fibre.
- Lac · Resinous secretion of lac insects such as Kerria lacca.
- Honey and beeswax · Bees process nectar into honey; wax is secreted by worker bees.
- Shahtoosh and pashmina · Shahtoosh is chiru underfur; pashmina is fine goat undercoat.
Plant chemicals and parts
- Opium · Latex of unripe poppy capsules; contains morphine and other alkaloids.
- Noscapine · Poppy alkaloid used as a cough suppressant.
- Asafoetida · Oleo-gum-resin from roots and rootstock of Ferula species.
- Clove oil · Eugenol is a major aromatic constituent.
- Chilli and tomato pigments · Capsaicin gives chilli pungency; lycopene gives tomato its red colour.
- Tea and coffee · Both commonly contain caffeine, a stimulant alkaloid.
- Garlic · Crushing forms allicin from alliin through alliinase activity.
- Buckwheat · Fagopyrum is a pseudocereal, not a true cereal grass.
- Litmus · Indicator dyes obtained from selected lichens.
- Pyrethrum · Chrysanthemum relatives yield pyrethrins used as insecticides.
- Azadirachtin · Neem compound disrupts insect feeding and development.
- Rotenone · Botanical insecticide from certain legume roots; toxic to fish.
- Vincristine and vinblastine · Anticancer alkaloids originally obtained from Catharanthus roseus.
Nutrient partnerships
- Rhizobium · Symbiotic nitrogen fixation in many legume root nodules.
- Azotobacter · Free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria; biofertilizer, not simply a biopesticide.
- Nostoc and Anabaena · Nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria used in suitable paddy systems.
- Azolla partnership · Aquatic fern hosts nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria and can enrich rice fields.
- Mycorrhiza · Root–fungus association improves mineral and water uptake.
Soil nitrogen processes
- Nitrification inhibitors · Slow conversion of ammonium to nitrate and can reduce nitrogen loss.
Biocontrol and microbial industry
- Chrysoperla · Lacewing larvae prey on crop pests such as aphids.
- Bacteriophage · A virus that infects bacteria; some are tools in genetic engineering.
- Biogas microbes · Anaerobic microbial communities include methane-producing archaea.
- 2,4-D · Synthetic auxin herbicide mainly used against broadleaf weeds.
❌ Not asked yet (9)
Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.
Nutrient partnerships
- Azospirillum · Associative nitrogen-fixing bacteria linked to roots of grasses and cereals. asked in other exams
- Frankia · Nitrogen-fixing actinobacterium in nodules of some non-legumes such as Alnus.
- Phosphate solubilisers · Certain Bacillus and Pseudomonas strains mobilise soil phosphorus.
- Leghemoglobin · Buffers oxygen in legume nodules so oxygen-sensitive nitrogenase can function.
Soil nitrogen processes
- Nitrification · Ammonia is oxidised to nitrite, then nitrate by microbes. asked in other exams
- Green manure · Crops such as dhaincha are incorporated into soil to add organic matter and nutrients. asked in other exams
- Denitrification · Microbes reduce nitrate to gaseous nitrogen compounds under low-oxygen conditions.
Biocontrol and microbial industry
- Trichoderma · Fungi used to suppress selected plant pathogens.
- Baculoviruses · Often host-specific insect pathogens used in biological control.
⚠️ Mycorrhiza is usually mutualism and helps phosphorus uptake; it is not itself a nitrogen-fixing bacterium.
'Asked' and 'not asked' are checked against every UPPCS question on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.