NEET YEARLONG COURSE

FOR
NEET
2022

(BIOLOGY)

Contents
NOTES

THE LIVING WORLD

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 THE LIVING WORLD 2
* Hence, we notice that in single celled organisms, we are
THE LIVING WORLD not very clear about the usage of these two terms - growth
WHAT IS ‘LIVING’? GRAMCE and reproduction.
1. Grow 2. Reproduction Further, there are many organisms which do not reproduce
3. Ability to sense environment and mount a suitable re- 1. Mules
sponse 2. Sterile worker bees
4. Metabolism 5. Ability to self-replicate 3. Infertile human couples
6. Self-organise 7. Interact and emergence * Hence, Reproduction also CANNOT be an all-inclusive
Defining feature- defining characteristic of living organisms.
1. Must be present in all living organisms * Of course, no non-living object is capable of reproduc-
2. Must not be present in any non-living ing or replicating by itself.
1. Cell organisation – 4. Metabolism
* Cell-structural & functional unit of life * All living organisms are made of chemicals These chemi-
* Defining feature cals are constantly being made and changed into some
other biomolecules.
2. GROWTH -
* These conversions are chemical reactions or metabolic
* All living organisms grow.
reactions.
* Increase in mass and increase in number of individuals
* There are thousands of metabolic reactions occurring
are twin characteristics of growth.
simultaneously inside all living organisms
* A multicellular organism grows by cell division.
* No non-living object exhibits metabolism.
* In plants, this growth by cell division occurs continu-
* Metabolic reactions can be demonstrated outside the
ously throughout their life span
body in cell-free systems.
* In animals, this growth is seen only up to a certain age.
* An isolated metabolic reaction(s) outside body of an
However, cell division occurs in certain tissues to re-
organism, performed in a test tube is neither living nor
place lost cells.
non-living
* Unicellular organisms grow by cell division.
* Hence, while metabolism is a defining feature of all living
* In majority of higher animals & plants, growth & repro- organisms without exception, isolated metabolic reac-
duction are mutually exclusive events. tions in vitro are not living things but surely living reac-
* Increase in body mass is considered as growth. tions.
* Non-living objects also grow if we take increase in body * Hence, cellular organisation of the body is the defining
mass as a criterion for growth. feature of life forms.
* Mountains, boulders and sand mounds do grow. 5. Ability to sense their surroundings or environment and
* However, this kind of growth exhibited by non-living respond to these environmental stimuli / Consciousness
objects is by accumulation of material on the surface. -
* In living organisms, growth is from inside. * The most obvious & technically complicated feature of
Growth, therefore , CANNOT be taken as DEFINING all living organisms
property of living organisms. * We sense our environment through our sense organs.
3. Reproduction * Plants respond to external factors like light, water , tem-
* A characteristic of living organisms. perature, other organisms, pollutants, etc.

* In multicellular organisms, reproduction refers to the pro- * All organisms, from the prokaryotes to the most complex
duction of progeny possessing features more or less eukaryotes can sense and respond to environmental
similar to those of parents cues.

* We have already defined growth as equivalent to in- * Photoperiod affects reproduction in seasonal breeders,
crease in cell number or mass. both plants and animals.

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 THE LIVING WORLD 3
* All organisms handle chemicals entering their bodies. * New/modern-morphological & internal characters
* All organisms therefore, are “aware” of their 2. Identification-comparison with characters of known
surroundings. groups
* Human being is the only organism who is aware of him- 3. Classification
self, i.e., has Self-consciousness. 4. Nomenclature
* Consciousness therefore, becomes the defining prop- * Systematics -
erty of living organisms. * Relationships among different kinds of
* Observe patients lying in coma in hospitals virtually sup- organisms(branch of study)
ported by machines which replace heart and lungs. * Taxonomy + Phylogeny
* The patient is otherwise brain-dead.
* Word “Systematics”
* The patient has no self-consciousness.
* derived from the Latin word “systema”
* Are such patients who never come back to normal life,
* means systematic arrangement of organisms.
living or non-living?
* Linnaeus used Systema Naturae as the title of his publi-
* Emergence cation (1758)
* Properties of tissues are not present in the constituent
* A particular organism is known by same name all over
cells but arise as a result of interactions among the con-
world - Nomenclature
stituent cells
* Nomenclature / Naming is only possible when organism
* properties of cellular organelles are not present in the
is described correctly and we know to what organism
molecular constituents of the organelle
the name is attached to.
* DIVERSITY IN THE LIVING WORLD
* For plants, scientific names International Code for Bo-
* Biodiversity or the number & types of organisms present tanical Nomenclature (ICBN)
on earth * For Animals , International Code of Zoological Nomen-
* The number of species that are known and described clature (ICZN)
range between 1.7-1.8 million * For prokaryotes, scientific names International Code of
* 1.25 million ¡V Animals (most diverse-Insects) Nomenclature for
* 0.55 million ¡V Plants (most diverse Angiosperms) Bacteria / Prokaryotes (ICNB / ICNP)
* Classification / Taxonomy- * For Viruses , International Committee for Taxonomy of
* Process by which anything is grouped into convenient Viruses (ICTV)
categories based on some easily observable characters * ICNCP
* Father of Taxonomy- Carolous linnaeus * International Code for Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants
* Based on characteristics, all living organisms can be
classified into different taxa This process of classifica- * Each organism has only one name
tion- Taxonomy (Term-A.P.de Candolle)
* Description of any organism should enable the people
* Essential and form the basis of modern taxonomic stud- (in any part of the world) to arrive at the same name
ies
* They also ensure that such a name has not been used
1. External and internal structure for any other known organism.
2. Structure of cell * Universally accepted principles to provide scientific
3. Development process names
4. Ecological information of organisms * Each name has two components /
* Processes , basic to taxonomy Binomial nomenclature-
1. Characterisation-listing of all characters of living organ- 1. Generic name 2. Specific epithet
ism * By Carolus Linnaeus(Father of Taxonomy)
* Old taxonomy-only morphological & * Practised by biologists all over world
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 THE LIVING WORLD 4
* Scientific name of mango - Mangifera indica Mangifera Tautonym – scientific names with same
represents genus indica is a particular species, or a spe- generic and species epithet (not valid for plants)
cific epithet. Trick : GST=Genus Species Same Tautonym
* Other universal rules of nomenclature are as follows: 1. Rattus rattus (Rat)
1. Biological names are generally in Latin & written in ital- 2. Gorilla gorilla (Gorilla)
ics. They are Latinised or derived from Latin irrespective
3. Naja naja (Cobra)
of their origin.
4. Bufo bufo (Toad)
2. The first word in a biological name represents the genus
5. Bubo bubo (Owl)
while the second component denotes the specific epi-
thet. 6. Gazella gazella (Black buck)
3. Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, 7. Vulpes vulpes (Red fox)\
are separately underlined, or printed in italics to indicate
their Latin origin. Autonym -
4. The first word denoting the genus starts with a capital * Scientific names with same species epithet & sub-spe-
letter while the specific epithet starts with a small letter. cies / variety
* Example - Mangifera indica * Valid for both plants and animals
* Name of the author appears 1. Homo sapien sapien
* After specific epithet, i.e., at the end of the biological 2. Gorilla gorilla gorilla
name
* written in an abbreviated form (never underlined , never Trinomial nomenclature -
italicised )
* Proposed by Lamarck / Huxley
* e.g. Mangifera indica Linn
* Scientific name with three words
* It indicates that this species was first described by
1. Generic name
Linnaeus
2. Specific epithet
* 1st usage of Binomial nomenclature by- Carolus
Linnaeus- 3. Sub-species (in animals) / Variety(plants)

In 1753 (Species Plantarum-1st valid publication for plant / Strain (bacteria)

nomenclature) In 1758 (Systema Natura-1st valid publi-
cation for animal nomenclature) 1. Gorilla gorilla gorilla
* Synonym / principle of priority - 2. Corvus splendens splendens (Crow)
* When more than one scientific names are given to a 3. Brassica oleracea var.capitata (cabbage)
same organism , the one proposed first is considered 4. Brassica oleracea var.botyricum
valid and others are considered Synonyms
(cauliflower)
* Eg : Fungi (White rust)-
5. Escherchia coli RY13
* Scientific valid name - Albugo candida
* Synonym - Cystopus candidus
Rules for 3rd word (same rules for 1st two words as
* Homonym - binomial)
* When one or more organisms are given same name , * Separately underlined if handwritten , printed in italics
then it is considered valid for organism to which it was
* Starts with small letter (animal/plant) & small/capital
given first
(strain)
* Prunus dulcis (Almond & Plum/aloo bukhara)
* Plum - Prunus domesticus
* Tautonym - scientific names with same generic and spe-
cies epithet (not valid for plants)

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 THE LIVING WORLD 5
TAXONOMIC CATEGORIES / Species
Taxonomic hierarchy 1. Mangifera indica
* Groups in which organisms are placed on basis of simi- 2. Solanum tuberosum (potato)
larities w.r.t characters Each category, 3. Panthera leo (lion)
* referred to as a unit of classification 4. Homo sapiens
* represents a rank
* commonly termed as taxon (pl.: taxa) Each genus may have one or more than one specific
epithets representing different organisms, but having
1. Keep - Kingdom morphological similarities
2. Pots - Phylum or division (for plants) 1. Panthera tigris
3. Clean- Class 2. Solanum includes species like nigrum and
4. Or -Order melongena(=brinjal)
5. Family -Family
6. Gets -Genus Genus
7. Sick -Species - lowest/basic unit category * A group of related species
* How to place an organism in various categories? * Has more characters in common in comparison to spe-
cies of other genera.
* The basic requirement is the knowledge of characters of
an individual or group of organisms. * Genera are aggregates of closely related species
* This helps in identifying similarities and dissimilarities * Potato & Brinjal are two different species but both be-
among the individuals of the same kind of organisms as long to genus Solanum.
well as of other kinds of organisms. * Lion (Panthera leo) , leopard (P. pardus) and tiger (P.
* As we go higher from species to kingdom, tigris)
* Number of common characteristics goes on decreasing * This genus differs from another genus Felis which in-
(general character increasing) cludes cats.
* Lower the taxa, more are the characteristics that the mem- Family
bers within the taxon share. * A group of related genera
* Higher the category, greater is the difficulty of determin- * still less number of similarities as compared to genus
ing the relationship to other taxa at the same level. and species
* Hence, the problem of classification becomes more com- * Families are characterised on the basis of both vegeta-
plex. tive and reproductive features of plant species.
TABLE 1.1 Organisms with their Taxonomic Categories
* Intermediate taxonomic categories- 1. 3 different genera Solanum, Petunia and Datura - Family
Superphylum Solanaceae
Subphylum 2. Genus Panthera, comprising lion, tiger, leopard & genus,
Felis (cats) - family Felidae.
Superclass
Subclass * Two different families - Felidae (cats) and Canidae (dogs)

Subfamily
Order
Tribe
* Assemblage of families which exhibit a few similar char-
Supergenus,..........
acters
Tribe = between subfamily & supergenus
1. Plant families like Convolvulaceae, Solanaceae -
order Polymoniales

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 THE LIVING WORLD 6
* based on the floral characters
2. The animal families like Felidae and Canidae - order Carnivora

Class
* Related orders
* order Primata (monkey, gorilla and gibbon) & order Carnivora (tiger, cat and dog ) - class Mammalia
* Class Mammalia has other orders also

Phylum
* phylum Chordata -
* Classes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds & mammals
* Based on common features - presence of notochord & dorsal hollow neural system
* In case of plants, classes with a few similar characters are assigned to a higher category called Division

Kingdom
* All animals belonging to various phyla
* Highest category
1. Kingdom Animal
2. Kingdom Plantae

TAXONOMICAL AIDS

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 THE LIVING WORLD 7
* The collection of actual specimens of plant and animal species is
* Essential
* Prime source of taxonomic studies.
* Fundamental to studies
* Essential for training in systematics
* Used for classification of an organism
* Information gathered is also stored along with the specimens.

1. Herbarium
* Herbarium is a store house of
* collected plant specimens that are dried, pressed and preserved on sheets (41 cm*29 cm)
* Further, these sheets are arranged according to a universally accepted system of classification

* These specimens, along with their descriptions on herbarium sheets, become a store house or repository for future
use(Quick referral system)
* The herbarium sheet also carry a label (right bottom corner)providing information about
1. Date and place of collection
2. English, local and botanical names
3. Family
4. Collector’ s name
* Herbarium serve as quick referral systems in taxonomical studies
* Poisons like Mercuric chloride & DDT used to prevent pathogen attack
* Significance of herbarium -
1. Identification of plants
2. Quick referral system
2. Botanical Gardens(Living herbarium)
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 THE LIVING WORLD 8
* These specialised gardens have collections of living Significance -
plants for reference. 1. Identification of animals
* Plant species in these gardens are grown for identifica- 2. Enable us to learn about their food habits and behaviour
tion purposes and each plant is labelled indicating 3. Ex-situ conservation of animals
* its botanical/scientific name and its family. 4. Place for selective breeding & conservation of endangered
* Significance - species
1. Identification of plants 5. Place of tourist attraction
2. Ex-situ conservation of plants
3. Provide raw material for research
* Botanical gardens are
1. Royal Botanical Garden , Kew (England)
2. Indian Botanical Garden, Howrah
(India)-Acharya Jagdish Chandra
Bose Botanical garden
a)Gaint water lily
b)The Great Banyan tree (4-5 km diam) Largest zoo (world) –Krugers(S.Africa)
3. National Botanical Research Institute , Lucknow (India)

3. Museum
* Generally set up in educational institutes such as schools
and colleges.
* Collections of preserved plant and animal specimens for
study and reference.
* Specimens are preserved in containers or jars in preser-
vative solutions ( FAA=Formalin , Acetone , Alcohol)
Figure 1.3 Pictures showing animals in
* Plant and animal specimens may also be preserved as
different zoological parks of India
dry specimens
* Insects are preserved in insect boxes after collecting,
killing and pinning. 5. Key
* Larger animals like birds and mammals are usually stuffed * Key is another taxonomical aid used for identification of
and preserved. plants and animals based on the similarities and dissimi-
larities.
* Museums often have collections of skeletons of animals
too\ * The keys are based on the contrasting characters gener-
ally in a pair called couplet.
NMNH , New Delhi
* It represents the choice made between two opposite op-
National Museum of Natural History
tions.
* This results in acceptance of only one and rejection of
4. Zoological Parks
the other.
* Places where wild animals are kept in protected environ-
* Each statement in the key is called a lead.
ments under human care
* Separate taxonomic keys are required for each taxonomic
* All animals in a zoo are provided, as far as possible, the
category such as family, genus and species for identifi-
conditions similar to their natural habitats
cation purposes.
* Keys are generally analytical in nature.

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 THE LIVING WORLD 9
* Fish , frog , bird , bat , cat Species -
1. External ear present 1. Doesn’t apply to plants which don’t undergo sexual re-
2. Wing present production
3. Gills present 2. Not applicable to bacteria (binary fission) , hence Bacte-
ria k/a Nonbiological species-
6. Flora 3. Some closely related species interbreeda) Natural inter-
7. Manuals breed but sterile offspringi.

8. Monographs i. Mule

9. Catalogues ii. Hinny

* Means of recording descriptions b) Fertile offspring but Captive interbreed

* Help in correct identification. i. Tigon=Tiger X Lioness

* Flora contains- ii. Liger = Lion X Tigeress

* actual account of habitat and distribution of plants * Types of species / genus

* of a given area * Basis=presence of subspecies/variety/species

* These provide the index to the plant species found in a 1. Monotypic species & genus
particular area 2. Polytypic species-
* Flora of Delhi by J.K.Maheshwari Brassica oleracea captitata (cabbage)
* Manuals are useful in providing information for identifi- Brassica oleracea botyricum (cauliflower)
cation of names of species found in an area (detailed * Polytypic genus-Panthera , Solanum
description of plants) * Types of species / genus
* Monographs contain information on any one taxon * Basis=geographical distribution
* Journal- contains details of ongoing research 1.Allopatric-different area , no overlapping
* Catalogue- contains species in a given area in alphabeti- 2.Sympatric-same & overlapping area
cally arranged manner
3.Parapatric-adjacent area & narrow over lapping
Father of-
* Sibling species-
1. Biology / Zoology - Aristotle
* Morphologically similar
2. Botany - Theophrastus
* Genetically different
3. Genetics - Mendel
* Reproductively isolated
4. Taxonomy - Carl linnaeus
* Eg-
5. Immunology- Edward jenner
1. Drosophila persimilis
Species -
2. Drosophila pseudoobscura
- Term - by john Ray
- Group of closely related organisms which can-
1. freely interbreed in nature &
2. produce fertile offsprings
* Genetically closed system
* Biological concept of Species -
- Most accepted
- By Ernst Mayr (Darwin of 20th century)
* Based on - Reproductive isolation
* Drawbacks 0f Biological concept of

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