FAM-603 Food & Agricultural Microbiology-

Food Microbiology:-

Food Microbiology- Microbiology of milk, Cheese, Yogurt (curd), Idli, Kinema; Spoilage of food (fresh and cooked, canned food, Vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry product, meat and meat products.

A brief account on common food–borne infections and toxicoses- Salmonellosis, Botulism, Cholera, Mycotoxicosis, E.coli -poisoning.

A brief account on Food preservation- pasteurization, appertization, aseptic packaging; use of high temperatures, freezing, dehydration, ionizing radiation, osmotic pressure; use of chemicals-organic acids, esters, sulphur- dioxide, salts and high sugar concentration (sweets etc.).

Agricultural Microbiology:-

Nature of soil- Soil as microenvironment, Soil organic matters and humus, Soil and surface environment, Soil pores and movement of gases for microbial activity, Microbes in soil surface and different zones of soil, Decomposition of Plant and animal residues by microorganisms in soil.

Brief account of microbial interaction- Symbiosis, neutralism, Commensalism, Competition, Ammensalism, Synergism, Parasitism.

Microorganisms in the rhizosphere, root surfaces and phylloplane- Biofertilizers- Biological Nitrogen fixation- symbiotic and asymbiotic, mass
production by Rhizobium, Azotobacter and Cyanobacteria i.e nitrosofying, nitrifying ammonifying and photosynthetic bacteria, Denitrification of nitrate fertilizers to N2 and N2O (a green house gas) by denitrifying bacteria, free living and in association with Azolla, Phosphate solubilizing bacteria, Soil anerobic methanogens in rice field.

Biological control of soil-borne microbial pathogens and nematodes- Microbial pesticides. Interaction of synthetic pesticides with soil microorganisms, Entomopathogenic fungi.

Plant diseases- Mode of entry of pathogens, disease symptoms, Brief account of algal disease, fungal disease,bacterial disease, viral disease, diseases caused by mycoplasmas and nematode Specially – brown spot of rice, black stem rust of wheat, stem rot of jute, rice disease by Tungo virus, grey blight of tea, red rot of sugarcane, TMV, Blast of rice, leaf blight of potato, Powdery mildew of cucurbit)- decimination and control measurement.