Microbes in Industrial Products: NEET MCQs with Answers

15 free questions on Microbes in Industrial Products for NEET (UG), starting with previous-year NEET and AIPMT questions. Try each one, then tap Show answer for the answer and a short explanation.

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Question 1

Previous-year question
Which of the following is a commercial blood-cholesterol lowering agent? [NEET 2019]
  1. Cyclosporin A
  2. Statin
  3. Streptokinase
  4. Lipases
Show answer
Answer: (B) Statin
Explanation: Statins from Monascus purpureus act as competitive inhibitors of the enzyme responsible for cholesterol synthesis and are marketed as cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Question 2

Previous-year question
Which of the following is correctly matched for the product produced by them? [NEET 2017]
  1. Methanobacterium : Lactic acid
  2. Penicillium notatum : Acetic acid
  3. Saccharomyces cerevisiae : Ethanol
  4. Acetobacter aceti : Antibiotics
Show answer
Answer: (C) Saccharomyces cerevisiae : Ethanol
Explanation: Yeast produces ethanol. Methanobacterium gives methane, Penicillium notatum gives penicillin and Acetobacter aceti gives acetic acid, so the other three pairs are wrong.

Question 3

Previous-year question
Which of the following is WRONGLY matched in the given table? [NEET 2016]
  1. Trichoderma polysporum — Cyclosporin A — immunosuppressive drug
  2. Monascus purpureus — Statins — lowering of blood cholesterol
  3. Streptococcus — Streptokinase — removal of clot from blood vessel
  4. Clostridium butylicum — Lipase — removal of oil stains
Show answer
Answer: (D) Clostridium butylicum — Lipase — removal of oil stains
Explanation: Clostridium butylicum is the commercial source of butyric acid; lipases used to remove oil stains in detergent formulations are obtained from other microbes, so this row is wrongly matched.

Question 4

Previous-year question
The organism used for alcohol fermentation is [AIPMT 1995]
  1. Aspergillus
  2. Saccharomyces
  3. Pseudomonas
  4. Penicillium
Show answer
Answer: (B) Saccharomyces
Explanation: Alcoholic fermentation occurs by the action of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which converts sugars anaerobically into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Question 5

Previous-year question
Which of the following is a FALSE statement about antibiotics? [AIPMT 1996]
  1. Some persons develop an allergy to antibiotics
  2. Antibiotics are capable of curing any disease
  3. The term was given by Waksman in 1942
  4. Antibiotics are produced by microorganisms
Show answer
Answer: (B) Antibiotics are capable of curing any disease
Explanation: Antibiotics are powerful medicines used to treat bacterial infections, but they are ineffective against viral infections such as the common cold or influenza. Hence the claim that they can cure any disease is false.

Question 6

Previous-year question
Which one of the following statements about antibiotics is NOT true? [AIPMT 1996]
  1. The term ‘antibiotic’ was coined by Selman Waksman in 1942
  2. The first antibiotic was discovered by Alexander Fleming
  3. Each antibiotic is effective only against one particular kind of germ
  4. Some persons can be allergic to a particular antibiotic
Show answer
Answer: (C) Each antibiotic is effective only against one particular kind of germ
Explanation: The claim that every antibiotic acts on only one kind of germ is untrue: some antibiotics are narrow spectrum, but others such as tetracyclines are broad spectrum and act on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The other statements are correct.

Question 7

Previous-year question
Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is used in the industrial production of [AIPMT 1998]
  1. citric acid
  2. tetracycline
  3. ethanol
  4. butanol
Show answer
Answer: (C) ethanol
Explanation: Yeast contains the enzyme zymase, which catalyses the fermentation of sugar to ethyl alcohol (ethanol) and carbon dioxide. This process is widely employed in the production of beer, wine and spirits.
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Question 8

Previous-year question
Which of the following microorganisms is used for the production of citric acid in industries? [AIPMT 1998]
  1. Aspergillus niger
  2. Rhizopus nigricans
  3. Lactobacillus bulgaris
  4. Penicillium citrinum
Show answer
Answer: (A) Aspergillus niger
Explanation: Citric acid is obtained by fermentation carried out by Aspergillus niger on sugary syrups. It is used in dyeing, engraving, medicines, inks and in the flavouring and preservation of food and candies.

Question 9

Previous-year question
Which one of the following is used to manufacture ethanol from starch? [AIPMT 2000]
  1. Penicillium
  2. Saccharomyces
  3. Azotobacter
  4. Lactobacillus
Show answer
Answer: (B) Saccharomyces
Explanation: The bioconversion of starch into ethanol is a two-step process. First comes saccharification, in which starch is converted into sugar by an amylolytic organism or enzyme; then the sugar is fermented into ethanol using Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Question 10

Previous-year question
Which one of the following is a wrong matching of a microbe and its industrial product, while the remaining three are correct? [AIPMT 2011]
  1. Yeast — Statins
  2. Acetobacter aceti — Acetic acid
  3. Clostridium butylicum — Lactic acid
  4. Aspergillus niger — Citric acid
Show answer
Answer: (C) Clostridium butylicum — Lactic acid
Explanation: Clostridium butylicum is used for the production of butyric acid, not lactic acid. Lactic acid is an organic compound obtained by fermentation with Lactobacillus.

Question 11

Previous-year question
The most common substrate used in distilleries for the production of ethanol is [AIPMT 2011]
  1. soya meal
  2. ground gram
  3. molasses
  4. corn meal
Show answer
Answer: (C) molasses
Explanation: Molasses is a viscous by-product of processing sugarcane, grapes or sugar beets in sugar factories. It is the commonest substrate used in distilleries for the production of ethanol and can also be fermented into rum.

Question 12

Previous-year question
Ethanol is commercially produced through a particular species of [AIPMT 2011]
  1. Clostridium
  2. Trichoderma
  3. Aspergillus
  4. Saccharomyces
Show answer
Answer: (D) Saccharomyces
Explanation: Ethanol is commercially produced through the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which contains the enzyme zymase that catalyses the fermentation of sugar to ethyl alcohol and CO₂.

Question 13

Previous-year question
A patient brought to a hospital with myocardial infarction is normally immediately given [AIPMT 2012]
  1. penicillin
  2. streptokinase
  3. cyclosporin-A
  4. statins
Show answer
Answer: (B) streptokinase
Explanation: Streptokinase, a protein secreted by several species of Streptococci, binds and activates human plasminogen. It is an effective and inexpensive thrombolytic (clot-buster) medication used in myocardial infarction and pulmonary embolism.

Question 14

Previous-year question
Monascus purpureus is a yeast used commercially in the production of [AIPMT 2012]
  1. ethanol
  2. streptokinase for removing clots from blood vessels
  3. citric acid
  4. blood-cholesterol lowering statins
Show answer
Answer: (D) blood-cholesterol lowering statins
Explanation: Monascus purpureus is the yeast used in the production of statins, drugs that lower blood cholesterol levels by competitively inhibiting the enzyme responsible for cholesterol synthesis.

Question 15

Previous-year question
Yeast is used in the production of [AIPMT 2012]
  1. citric acid and lactic acid
  2. lipase and pectinase
  3. bread and beer
  4. cheese and butter
Show answer
Answer: (C) bread and beer
Explanation: Saccharomyces cerevisiae is known as baker’s yeast and Saccharomyces ellipsoideus as wine yeast. They are used in the baking and brewing industries respectively, hence in the production of bread and beer.

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