Applied Zoology BZO5T10

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Pearl Culture: Principles and history of pearl culture
• pearl-producing molluscs
• techniques of pearl oyster culture
• grafting and nucleus implantation
• pearl harvesting and economic importance
• Prawn Culture: Species of commercial importance
• life cycle of prawn (M. rosenbergii)
• hatchery technology
• pond preparation and management
• diseases and their control
• economic prospects
• Inland and Marine Fisheries: Fishery resources of India
• freshwater, brackish water, and marine fisheries
• fish preservation, processing, and marketing
• Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology: Nutritional requirements of fish
• feed formulation and feed types
• artificial feed production
• feeding strategies and feed management

Pearl Culture

Pearl culture is the controlled production of pearls by artificially inserting a nucleus (bead) and a piece of mantle tissue into a pearl-producing mollusc.

Principle: When a foreign particle enters between the mantle and the shell, mantle epithelial cells surround it, form a pearl sac and deposit concentric layers of nacre (mother-of-pearl: calcium carbonate as aragonite + conchiolin protein) around it. This forms a pearl.

History: The Chinese made simple blister pearls centuries ago. Kokichi Mikimoto of Japan developed commercial round cultured pearls in the early 1900s. In India, the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) produced cultured pearls at Tuticorin (Thoothukudi) in 1973.

Pearl-producing molluscs: marine pearl oysters Pinctada fucata (Indian pearl oyster), Pinctada margaritifera (black-lip), Pinctada maxima; freshwater mussels Lamellidens marginalis, Hyriopsis.

Technique of pearl oyster culture:

1. Collection of oysters from natural beds or hatchery-produced spat.
2. Rearing in cages or box nets hung from rafts or long lines in calm, clean seawater (farm).
3. Pre-operative conditioning: oysters are kept crowded to weaken them so the shell opens easily.
4. Grafting and nucleus implantation (surgery): A small piece of mantle (graft tissue) from a donor oyster is cut. A shell bead nucleus (spherical bead made from freshwater mussel shell) and the graft are inserted into the gonad of the host oyster through an incision in the foot region.
5. Post-operative care: oysters rest in calm water; dead ones and those rejecting the nucleus are removed.
6. Farming: kept in nets for 1–2 years; regular cleaning of fouling organisms.
7. Harvesting: oysters are opened and pearls taken out, then washed, graded by size, shape, lustre and colour.

Economic importance: pearls are costly gems; employment to coastal people; export income; freshwater pearl culture is a good small business for rural youth; shells used for buttons and lime.

Prawn Culture

Species of commercial importance: freshwater – Macrobrachium rosenbergii (giant freshwater prawn), M. malcolmsonii; marine/brackish – Penaeus monodon (tiger prawn), P. indicus (Indian white prawn), Litopenaeus vannamei (Pacific white shrimp, widely farmed in India).

Life cycle of M. rosenbergii: Adults live in fresh water. The berried (egg-carrying) female migrates to brackish water (estuary) where eggs hatch into zoea larvae → pass through about 11 larval stages in brackish water (12–15 ppt salinity) → post-larvae → migrate back to fresh water → juveniles → adults.

Hatchery technology: berried females kept in brackish water tanks; larvae fed on Artemia nauplii and egg custard; water quality (temperature 28–30 °C, salinity, oxygen) controlled; post-larvae (seed) produced in 25–35 days.

Pond preparation and management: drying and ploughing the pond bottom; liming to correct pH; fertilising with cow dung or urea for plankton; filling with filtered water; stocking post-larvae; supplementary feeding; aeration; checking pH, oxygen and ammonia; harvesting after 5–7 months.

Diseases and control: white spot disease (virus), black gill disease, shell disease (bacteria), soft shell. Control by good water quality, disease-free seed, proper stocking density, probiotics and removal of dead prawns.

Economic prospects: high demand in domestic and export markets; India is among the leading exporters of farmed shrimp; employment in hatcheries, feed and processing units.

Inland and Marine Fisheries of India

Fishery resources: India has a long coastline (over 7,500 km), a large Exclusive Economic Zone, many rivers, reservoirs, tanks and ponds.

• Freshwater (inland) fisheries: rivers (Ganga, Godavari), reservoirs, lakes, ponds. Major species: Indian major carps – catla (Catla catla), rohu (Labeo rohita), mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala); exotic carps; catfishes.
• Brackish water fisheries: estuaries, lagoons (Chilika), backwaters; mullets, milkfish (Chanos chanos), prawns, crabs.
• Marine fisheries: coastal and deep sea; sardine, mackerel, Bombay duck (Harpadon nehereus), pomfret, tuna, seer fish.

Fish preservation and processing: chilling with ice, freezing, sun drying, salting, smoking, canning; by-products – fish meal, fish oil, fish silage, isinglass.

Marketing: landing centres → auction → wholesalers → retailers; cold chain and cooperatives reduce loss; exports of frozen shrimp and fish.

Fish Nutrition and Feed Technology

Nutritional requirements: protein (25–45% depending on species; carnivores need more), lipids (energy and essential fatty acids), carbohydrates (cheap energy), vitamins and minerals.

Feed formulation: mixing ingredients like rice bran, groundnut oil cake, soybean meal, fish meal, and vitamin–mineral premix in the right proportion to meet needs at the lowest cost (Pearson square method).

Feed types: natural feed (plankton), supplementary feed (oil cake + bran), complete feed; forms – mash, wet dough, pellets (sinking and floating extruded pellets).

Artificial feed production: grinding → mixing → conditioning with steam → pelleting or extrusion → drying → packing.

Feeding strategy: feed 2–5% of body weight per day in 2–3 meals; check feed trays; avoid overfeeding (it spoils water); calculate Food Conversion Ratio (FCR) = feed given ÷ weight gain.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8 marks) Describe the technique of pearl culture with reference to grafting and nucleus implantation.
2. (Long, 8 marks) Give the life cycle of Macrobrachium rosenbergii and describe prawn hatchery and pond management.
3. (Short, 4 marks) Write a note on fish preservation methods.
4. (Short, 4 marks) What is feed formulation? Mention types of fish feed.
5. (Short, 4 marks) Name the Indian major carps with scientific names.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Apiculture: Species of honey bees
• social organization
• Movable Frame Hive
• Honey, beeswax, propolis, and royal jelly — their composition, economic importance, and marketing strategies
• Sericulture: Types of Silkworm
• Life cycle and rearing of mulberry and non-mulberry silkworm (Antheraea mylitta)
• brief idea of silk production, processing, and marketing
• Lac Culture: Life cycle of lac insect
• lac processing, lac products - processing, economic significance, and marketing strategies
• Pest and Pest Management: Classification of pests—agricultural, stored-grain, veterinary, and medical pests
• principles and approaches to pest control, including (i) biological control using predators and parasites with their merits and limitations, and (ii) chemical control using pyrethroids and carbamates, along with their advantages and drawbacks

Apiculture

Apiculture is the scientific rearing of honey bees for honey, wax and other products, and for pollination.

Species of honey bees: Apis dorsata (rock bee, wild, large combs, gives most honey but aggressive), Apis cerana indica (Indian bee, domesticated), Apis florea (little bee), Apis mellifera (Italian/European bee, high yielding, widely kept), and stingless bees (Trigona).

Social organisation: a colony has three castes:

1. Queen: one fertile female; lays eggs (up to 1500–2000 per day); develops from a fertilised egg fed on royal jelly throughout larval life.
2. Drones: fertile males from unfertilised eggs (parthenogenesis); only function is mating with the queen.
3. Workers: sterile females; do all work – nursing, wax making, comb building, guarding, foraging. Communicate food location by round dance and waggle dance (Karl von Frisch).

Movable frame hive (Langstroth/Newton hive): a wooden box with stand, bottom board, brood chamber with frames, queen excluder, super chamber with frames, inner cover and top cover. The "bee space" (about 6–9 mm) lets frames be removed without damaging combs. Honey is taken by a centrifugal honey extractor without destroying combs.

Marketing: branding, quality testing (FSSAI standards), selling through cooperatives, KVIC, online stores and exports. Bees also increase crop yields by pollination.

Sericulture

Sericulture is the rearing of silkworms for production of raw silk.

Types of silkworm: mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori); non-mulberry – tasar (Antheraea mylitta), muga (Antheraea assamensis), eri (Samia ricini).

Life cycle of Bombyx mori: egg → larva (caterpillar; 5 instars with 4 moults, about 25–30 days, feeds on mulberry leaves) → spins cocoon using a continuous silk thread from salivary (silk) glands → pupa → adult moth (does not feed, lives a few days, mates and lays 300–500 eggs).

Rearing of mulberry silkworm: mulberry cultivation → disinfected rearing house → egg incubation → brushing of newly hatched larvae onto trays → feeding chopped leaves → mounting mature larvae on chandrikes (mountages) to spin cocoons → harvesting cocoons.

Tasar silkworm (A. mylitta): wild/semi-domesticated; reared outdoors on Arjun (Terminalia arjuna), Asan (Terminalia tomentosa) and Sal trees; 1–2 or 3 crops per year; important in Vidarbha (Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur), Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Silk production and processing: stifling (killing pupae by steam or hot air) → cooking cocoons → reeling (unwinding filament) → twisting → degumming (removing sericin) → dyeing → weaving. Marketing: cocoon markets, reeling units, Central Silk Board support, handloom sarees.

Lac Culture

Lac is a resinous secretion of the lac insect Kerria lacca (Laccifer lacca).

Life cycle: eggs hatch inside the mother's cell → crawlers (first instar nymphs) swarm out and settle on tender twigs of host trees (kusum, ber, palas) → insert mouthparts and suck sap → secrete lac around the body → moult; males become winged or wingless adults, females remain fixed inside lac cells → mating → females lay eggs. Two crops a year (Rangeeni strain: Katki and Baisakhi; Kusumi strain: Aghani and Jethwi).

Cultivation steps: pruning host trees → inoculation (tying brood lac sticks on host) → removing old brood → harvesting lac-coated twigs (stick lac).

Processing: stick lac → scraping → crushing and washing → seed lac → melting and filtering → shellac or button lac. Products: lac dye, lac wax. Uses: varnishes, polishes, bangles, sealing wax, electrical insulation, coating fruits and tablets. India (mainly Jharkhand) is a leading producer; the ICAR institute at Ranchi does research on lac.

Pest and Pest Management

A pest is any animal that causes economic loss to crops, stored products, livestock or human health.

• Agricultural pests: pink bollworm, American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), aphids, rice stem borer.
• Stored-grain pests: rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae), khapra beetle (Trogoderma granarium), red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum), pulse beetle.
• Veterinary pests: ticks, cattle lice, horse fly, warble fly.
• Medical pests: mosquitoes (Anopheles, Aedes, Culex), housefly, bedbug, sandfly.

(i) Biological control: use of natural enemies – predators (ladybird beetles eat aphids, Gambusia fish eat mosquito larvae) and parasitoids (Trichogramma wasps parasitise moth eggs). Merits: eco-friendly, no residues, long-lasting, no resistance. Limitations: slow action, needs skill, may not work in pest outbreaks, natural enemies may die from pesticides.

(ii) Chemical control: Pyrethroids (synthetic forms of natural pyrethrin – cypermethrin, deltamethrin) act on sodium channels of nerves; Carbamates (carbaryl, carbofuran) inhibit acetylcholinesterase. Advantages: quick, effective, easy to use. Drawbacks: pest resistance, residues in food, harm to bees, fish and natural enemies, health hazards.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8 marks) Describe the social organisation of honey bees and the structure of a movable frame hive.
2. (Long, 8 marks) Explain the life cycle and rearing of the mulberry silkworm. Add a note on tasar silkworm.
3. (Short, 4 marks) Give the composition and uses of honey and beeswax.
4. (Short, 4 marks) Write a note on lac processing and lac products.
5. (Short, 4 marks) Give merits and limitations of biological pest control.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Poultry Farming: Introduction to poultry birds (chicken, turkey, duck, ostrich)
• basic principles of housing and feeding
• common diseases and their management
• egg and meat production systems
• economic importance of poultry farming
• Goat Farming: Introduction to important goat breeds (Jamunapari, Osmanabadi, Black Bengal)
• basic feeding and housing management
• health care and disease prevention
• economic importance of goat farming in rural and commercial sectors
• Dairy Farming: Introduction to major breeds of cattle (Sahiwal, Gir, Holstein Friesian, Jersey) and buffalo (Murrah, Mehsana, Jaffarabadi)
• basic dairy management practices and common diseases
• economic importance of the dairy industry
• Pig Farming: Introduction to important pig breeds (Ghungroo, Doom, Large White Yorkshire)
• housing and feeding management, and disease control
• economic importance of pig farming

Poultry Farming

Poultry farming is the rearing of domesticated birds such as chicken, duck, turkey and ostrich for eggs and meat.

• Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus): layers (White Leghorn – egg type), broilers (Cornish, Plymouth Rock crosses – meat type), Indian breeds (Aseel, Kadaknath – black meat, from Madhya Pradesh), improved backyard birds (Vanaraja, Giriraja).
• Duck: Khaki Campbell (good layer), Indian Runner; suited to wetland areas.
• Turkey: Broad Breasted White, Beltsville Small White; large meat birds.
• Ostrich: largest bird; reared for meat, leather and feathers.

Housing: well-ventilated, dry, east–west oriented sheds; deep litter system (rice husk/saw dust bedding) or cage system for layers; about 1 sq ft per broiler and 2 sq ft per layer on deep litter; brooding with heat for chicks in the first weeks.

Feeding: balanced ration of maize, soybean meal, fish meal, minerals and vitamins; starter, grower, finisher (broiler) and layer mash; clean water always.

Common diseases and management:

Production systems: intensive (cage/deep litter), semi-intensive and backyard (free-range). Layers start laying at about 20 weeks; broilers reach market weight (about 2 kg) in about 5–6 weeks.

Economic importance: cheap protein (eggs and meat), quick returns, low investment, employment, poultry manure as fertiliser; India is among the top egg producers of the world.

Goat Farming

The goat is called the "poor man's cow" because it needs little investment and survives on poor fodder.

• Jamunapari: from Uttar Pradesh (Etawah); tall, long drooping ears, Roman nose; dual purpose (milk and meat).
• Osmanabadi: from Marathwada (Maharashtra); mostly black; mainly meat; hardy, suited to dry areas.
• Black Bengal: from West Bengal; small, black; excellent meat and skin quality; very prolific (twins/triplets).

Feeding: browsing on shrubs and tree leaves (subabul, neem), green fodder, dry fodder plus concentrate for pregnant and milking does; mineral licks and clean water.

Housing: raised slatted floor or dry floor, good ventilation, protection from rain and predators; separate pens for kids, bucks and does.

Health care: vaccination against PPR (goat plague), enterotoxaemia, foot-and-mouth disease and goat pox; regular deworming; hoof trimming; clean water.

Economic importance: meat (chevon), milk, skin (leather), manure; quick multiplication; supplementary income for small and landless farmers; growing commercial stall-fed farms.

Dairy Farming

Dairy farming is the rearing of milch animals (cows and buffaloes) for milk and milk products.

Dairy management: good shed with drainage; balanced feeding (green fodder, dry fodder, concentrate, mineral mixture); clean milking (full-hand method), milking 2 times daily; breeding by artificial insemination; care of pregnant animals and calves (colostrum within first hours).

Common diseases: mastitis (udder infection), foot-and-mouth disease, haemorrhagic septicaemia, black quarter, brucellosis, lumpy skin disease – controlled by vaccination, hygiene and veterinary care.

Economic importance: India is the largest milk producer in the world; Operation Flood (Dr. Verghese Kurien) and cooperatives like Amul made dairying a major rural income source; products – milk, curd, ghee, paneer; dung for biogas and manure.

Pig Farming

• Ghungroo: indigenous black breed from West Bengal; prolific, hardy, good for small farmers.
• Doom: indigenous breed of Assam; black, small, hardy.
• Large White Yorkshire: exotic, white, large; fast growth, high litter size; widely used for crossbreeding.

Housing: pens with concrete floor and drainage, wallowing area or shower for cooling, farrowing pens with guard rails to protect piglets.

Feeding: pigs are omnivores and efficient feed converters; maize, broken grains, kitchen and hotel waste (boiled), with minerals.

Disease control: swine fever, African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, worm infections; vaccination, deworming, hygiene, biosecurity; iron injection to piglets to prevent anaemia.

Economic importance: fast growth, large litters (8–12 piglets), quick return; pork, lard, bristles, leather; important income for tribal and north-eastern communities.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8 marks) Describe the housing, feeding and disease management of poultry. Add a note on its economic importance.
2. (Long, 8 marks) Describe important breeds of cattle and buffalo and explain dairy management practices.
3. (Short, 4 marks) Write a note on goat breeds of India.
4. (Short, 4 marks) Name common poultry diseases and their control.
5. (Short, 4 marks) Write the economic importance of pig farming.

Syllabus topics (RTMNU)

• Microscopy: Structure and applications of advanced microscopes: Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Confocal microscope, and Phase-contrast microscope
• Electrophoresis: Principles and applications of agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, and native PAGE
• Separation of Biomolecules: Principles and applications of gel filtration chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography
• Animal Cell Culture and Flow Cytometry: Principles of animal cell culture
• culture media and aseptic techniques
• applications
• introduction to flow cytometry and its biological applications

Microscopy: SEM, TEM, Confocal and Phase-contrast Microscopes

Resolution is the ability to show two close points as separate. Light microscopes resolve about 0.2 µm; electron microscopes use electrons (much shorter wavelength) and resolve down to about 0.1–1 nm.

Parts of an electron microscope: electron gun (tungsten filament), electromagnetic condenser, objective and projector lenses, high vacuum column, fluorescent screen or digital camera.

Confocal microscope: uses a laser to excite fluorescent dyes, and a pinhole to block out-of-focus light, so only one thin plane is seen. By scanning many planes (optical sections) a sharp 3-D image is built. Uses: live cells, location of proteins tagged with GFP, tissue structure.

Phase-contrast microscope: invented by Frits Zernike (Nobel Prize 1953). Living, unstained cells are transparent; light passing through parts of different refractive index gets small phase differences. An annular diaphragm and a phase plate change these phase differences into differences in brightness. Uses: study of living cells, cell division, cilia movement, without killing or staining.

Electrophoresis: Agarose Gel, SDS-PAGE and Native PAGE

Electrophoresis is the separation of charged molecules by their movement in an electric field through a gel. Speed depends on charge, size and shape of the molecule and gel pore size.

• Agarose gel electrophoresis: agarose (from seaweed) forms a gel with large pores. Used for DNA and RNA. DNA is negatively charged (phosphate groups) and moves towards the anode (+); smaller fragments move faster. Stained with ethidium bromide (or safer dyes) and seen under UV light; a DNA ladder is used to find size. Uses: checking PCR products, DNA fingerprinting, restriction digestion analysis.
• SDS-PAGE: polyacrylamide gel; proteins are boiled with SDS (sodium dodecyl sulphate) and a reducing agent (β-mercaptoethanol). SDS denatures proteins and gives them uniform negative charge, so they separate only by molecular weight. Stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue. Uses: finding molecular weight, purity of proteins, Western blotting.
• Native PAGE: no SDS, proteins keep their natural shape, charge and activity; separation by charge, size and shape. Uses: studying enzymes (isozymes) in active form, protein complexes.

Gel Filtration and Ion-exchange Chromatography

Chromatography separates the components of a mixture by their different distribution between a stationary phase and a mobile phase.

Gel filtration (size-exclusion / molecular sieve) chromatography: The column is packed with porous beads (Sephadex, Sepharose). Large molecules cannot enter the pores and come out first; small molecules enter the pores, travel a longer path and come out later. Uses: protein purification, desalting, estimating molecular weight.

Ion-exchange chromatography: Separation based on net charge. The resin carries fixed charged groups – cation exchanger (negative groups, e.g., CM-cellulose, binds positive molecules) or anion exchanger (positive groups, e.g., DEAE-cellulose, binds negative molecules). Bound molecules are eluted by increasing salt concentration or changing pH. Uses: purification of proteins, amino acids, nucleotides; water softening.

Animal Cell Culture

Animal cell culture is the growing of animal cells outside the body (in vitro) under controlled, sterile conditions.

• Types: primary culture (directly from tissue, limited life), secondary culture and cell lines (finite or continuous/immortal, e.g., HeLa, Vero, CHO).
• Culture media: natural (plasma, serum, tissue extract) and synthetic (MEM, DMEM, RPMI-1640) with amino acids, glucose, vitamins, salts, buffer; usually supplemented with foetal bovine serum (FBS) and antibiotics; pH about 7.4, 37 °C, 5% CO₂ in a CO₂ incubator.
• Aseptic techniques: work in a laminar air flow / biosafety cabinet, UV sterilisation, autoclaving glassware and media, filter sterilisation of heat-sensitive media, use of 70% alcohol, flaming.
• Applications: vaccine production (polio, rabies), monoclonal antibodies, cancer research, drug and toxicity testing, tissue engineering and stem cell research, IVF.

Flow Cytometry

Flow cytometry is a technique to count and analyse cells one by one as they flow in a fine stream past a laser beam. Cells are often tagged with fluorescent antibodies. Detectors measure forward scatter (cell size), side scatter (granularity) and fluorescence (specific markers). FACS (fluorescence-activated cell sorting) can also sort cells into groups.

Applications: counting CD4 T-cells in HIV patients, diagnosis of leukaemia, cell-cycle analysis (DNA content), immunology research, stem cell sorting.

Likely exam questions

1. (Long, 8 marks) Describe the principle, structure and applications of the transmission and scanning electron microscopes.
2. (Long, 8 marks) Explain the principle and applications of agarose gel electrophoresis and SDS-PAGE.
3. (Short, 4 marks) Write a note on the phase-contrast microscope.
4. (Short, 4 marks) Explain the principle of ion-exchange chromatography.
5. (Short, 4 marks) What is flow cytometry? Give its applications.