How this Chapter is Tested in NEET
Microbes in Human Welfare is a short, high-return chapter - it usually contributes two to four questions in NEET, and almost all of them test 'which microbe does what'. The facts are finite, so this is one of the easiest chapters to score full marks on.
The recurring favourites are:
- Microbe -> product matches - the single most common format (Lactobacillus/curd, Aspergillus/citric acid, Acetobacter/acetic acid, Clostridium/butyric acid, Saccharomyces/ethanol).
- Bioactive molecules - cyclosporin A (Trichoderma, immunosuppressant), statins (Monascus, cholesterol), streptokinase (Streptococcus, clot buster).
- Cheeses and beverages - Swiss cheese (Propionibacterium, CO2 holes), Roquefort (Penicillium), distilled vs non-distilled.
- Sewage treatment - primary vs secondary, BOD, activated sludge and the anaerobic sludge digester; biogas / methanogens.
- Biocontrol (Bt, Trichoderma, Baculovirus) and biofertilisers (Rhizobium, mycorrhiza/Glomus, cyanobacteria) - and 'which cannot fix nitrogen'.
The set below combines genuine NEET previous-year questions with a few exam-pattern questions in the same style.
Strategy: memorise the microbe -> product/role table cold, and watch the two classic traps - a genus that appears twice (Lactobacillus, Trichoderma) and mixing up biocontrol with biofertiliser.