Biological Classification NEET PYQReal NEET & AIPMT 2005–2021 questions, year-tagged, with solutions
By the RankUp team, founded by Dr. Deepak Sahu (MBBS Gold Medalist, NEET PG AIR 1731) · Updated
Every Biological Classification question from the NEET & AIPMT papers on this site (2005–2021), newest first. Each is tagged with its paper. Tap an option to check your answer and read the explanation.
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Biological Classification previous year questions
63 questions. Tap an option to check your answer.
Q1NEET 2021
Which of the following statements is correct ?
Not quite — the answer is B.
Fusion of the protoplasm of two motile or non-motile gametes is plasmogamy, which is correct. Fusion of two nuclei (not two cells) is karyogamy, organisms on dead matter are saprophytes, and nitrogen-fixing cells of cyanobacteria are heterocysts, not sheath cells.
Q2NEET 2020 · Q57
Which of the following is correct about viroids?
Not quite — the answer is B.
Viroids, found by T.O. Diener as the cause of potato spindle tuber disease, are free RNA molecules without any protein coat. Viruses have a protein coat, and viroid RNA is of low molecular weight, not DNA.
Q3NEET 2019 · Q156
Which of the following statements is incorrect ?
Not quite — the answer is C.
The infective part of a virus is its nucleic acid (DNA or RNA); the protein coat (capsid) only protects it. Viroids are naked RNA without a protein coat, and prions are abnormally folded proteins.
Q4NEET 2019 · Q159
Which of the following statements is incorrect ?
Not quite — the answer is D.
Yeasts are unicellular fungi without hyphae, so describing them as filamentous is wrong. Morels and truffles are edible ascomycetes, Claviceps yields ergot alkaloids and LSD, and conidia are exogenous while ascospores form inside asci.
Q5NEET 2019 · Q160
Match Column - I with Column - II. (a) Saprophyte — (i) Symbiotic association of fungi with plant roots (b) Parasite — (ii) Decomposition of dead organic materials (c) Lichens — (iii) Living on living plants or animals (d) Mycorrhiza — (iv) Symbiotic association of algae and fungi Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
Not quite — the answer is D.
Saprophytes decompose dead organic matter, parasites live on living plants or animals, lichens are algae–fungus associations and mycorrhizae are fungus–root associations. Swapping lichens and mycorrhiza is the usual trap.
Q6NEET 2018 · Q118
Which among the following is not a prokaryote?
Not quite — the answer is C.
Saccharomyces is yeast, a unicellular fungus with a true nucleus, so it is a eukaryote. Nostoc and Oscillatoria are cyanobacteria and Mycobacterium is a bacterium, all prokaryotes.
Q7NEET 2018 · Q131
Select the wrong statement:
Not quite — the answer is A.
Sporozoans such as Plasmodium have no locomotory structures; pseudopodia are found in amoeboid protozoans (sarcodines). Mushrooms are basidiomycetes, fungi and plants have cell walls, and Monera lack mitochondria while all other kingdoms have them.
Q8NEET 2018 · Q132
After karyogamy followed by meiosis, spores are produced exogenously in
Not quite — the answer is A.
In Agaricus (a basidiomycete) karyogamy and meiosis occur in the basidium and the four basidiospores are borne exogenously on it. In Neurospora and Saccharomyces (ascomycetes) the meiospores form endogenously in an ascus, and Alternaria is a deuteromycete with no known sexual stage.
Q9NEET 2018 · Q147
Ciliates differ from all other protozoans in
Not quite — the answer is D.
Ciliates such as Paramoecium have a large macronucleus and a small micronucleus, a feature unique to them among protozoans. Contractile vacuoles also occur in freshwater amoebae and flagellates, pseudopodia belong to amoeboid protozoans and flagella to flagellates.
Q10NEET 2018 · Q152
Which of the following organisms are known as chief producers in the oceans?
Not quite — the answer is B.
NCERT describes diatoms as the chief producers in the oceans. Dinoflagellates are mostly marine photosynthetic protists too, and cyanobacteria are important producers, but the textbook title of chief producers belongs to diatoms; euglenoids are mostly freshwater.
Q11NEET 2017 · Q53
Viroids differ from viruses in having:
Not quite — the answer is D.
Viroids, discovered by T.O. Diener as the cause of potato spindle tuber disease, are free low-molecular-weight RNA without any protein coat. Viruses always have a protein capsid around their nucleic acid, so a coated RNA describes a virus, not a viroid.
Q12NEET 2017 · Q62
Which of the following are found in extreme saline conditions?
Not quite — the answer is A.
Halophiles, a group of archaebacteria, live in extremely salty habitats; their distinctive cell wall helps them survive such conditions. Eubacteria, cyanobacteria and mycobacteria are not characteristic of extreme salinity.
Q13NEET 2017 (Gujarati paper) · Q50
Which of the following is not true of organisms in the kingdom Monera?
Not quite — the answer is D.
Monerans are prokaryotes without a nucleus or spindle apparatus, so they divide by binary fission, not mitosis. They are indeed the oldest life forms (about 3.5 billion years) and include both autotrophs (cyanobacteria, chemosynthetic bacteria) and heterotrophs.
Q14NEET 2017 (Gujarati paper) · Q67
Select the sac fungus:
Not quite — the answer is B.
Sac fungi are Ascomycetes, which produce ascospores in sac-like asci; Neurospora is an ascomycete. Agaricus is a basidiomycete (club fungus), while Mucor and Albugo belong to the Phycomycetes.
Q15NEET 2017 (Gujarati paper) · Q91
An example of flagellate protozoan is:
Not quite — the answer is B.
Trypanosoma, the cause of sleeping sickness, is a flagellated protozoan. Paramoecium is ciliated, Entamoeba is amoeboid (moves by pseudopodia) and Plasmodium is a sporozoan.
Q16NEET 2017 (Gujarati paper) · Q100
The protein coat around a virus is called:
Not quite — the answer is B.
The nucleic acid of a virus is enclosed in a protein coat called the capsid, made of subunits called capsomeres. A capsule is the slimy outer layer of some bacteria, and trichome refers to plant hairs or filaments of cyanobacteria.
Q17NEET 2016 Phase 2 · Q91
Which one of the following is wrong for fungi?
Not quite — the answer is B.
Fungal cell walls are made mainly of chitin and polysaccharides, not purely of cellulose, so the claim of a purely cellulosic wall is wrong. Fungi are eukaryotic heterotrophs and include both unicellular forms such as yeast and multicellular filamentous forms.
Q18NEET 2016 Phase 2 · Q92
Methanogens belong to
Not quite — the answer is B.
Methanogens are archaebacteria that live in marshy areas and the rumen of cattle and produce methane from CO₂. Their cell wall structure differs from true bacteria, so they are not placed in Eubacteria; dinoflagellates and slime moulds are protists.
Q19NEET 2016 Phase 2 · Q93
Select the wrong statement.
Not quite — the answer is A.
Diatom cell walls are impregnated with silica and are practically indestructible, which is why they accumulate as diatomaceous earth over billions of years. So saying the walls are easily destructible is wrong, while the other statements about diatoms being planktonic chief producers are correct.
Q20NEET 2016 Phase 1 · Q94
Which of the following statements is wrong for viroids?
Not quite — the answer is D.
Viroids are naked, infectious RNA molecules without a protein coat and are smaller than viruses (e.g. potato spindle tuber viroid). Their RNA is of low molecular weight, so the statement about high molecular weight RNA is the wrong one.
Q21NEET 2016 Phase 1 · Q116
One of the major components of cell wall of most fungi is:
Not quite — the answer is A.
Most fungal cell walls are made of chitin and polysaccharides. Peptidoglycan is the bacterial wall component and cellulose/hemicellulose are typical of plant walls.
Q22NEET 2016 Phase 1 · Q165
Chrysophytes, Euglenoids, Dinoflagellates and Slime moulds are included in the kingdom:
Not quite — the answer is B.
In Whittaker's five-kingdom system these unicellular eukaryotic groups, along with protozoans, are placed in kingdom Protista. Monera contains prokaryotes, and slime moulds are not true fungi.
Q23AIPMT 2015
Which one of the following matches is correct?
Not quite — the answer is C.
Alternaria is a deuteromycete (imperfect fungus) in which only the asexual phase is known. Agaricus is a saprophytic basidiomycete, Phytophthora and Mucor have aseptate mycelium but belong to Phycomycetes, not Basidiomycetes or Ascomycetes.
Q24AIPMT 2015
True nucleus is absent in:
Not quite — the answer is B.
Anabaena is a cyanobacterium, a prokaryote whose DNA lies free in the cytoplasm without a nuclear membrane. Volvox and Vaucheria are algae and Mucor is a fungus, all eukaryotes with a true nucleus.
Q25AIPMT 2014
Which of the following shows coiled RNA strand and capsomeres?
Not quite — the answer is A.
Tobacco mosaic virus is a rod-shaped virus in which a single helically coiled RNA strand is surrounded by a protein coat made of repeating capsomeres. Measles, polio and retroviruses are not the classic example of this helical coiled-RNA architecture taught for TMV.
Q26AIPMT 2014
Which one of the following fungi contains hallucinogens?
Not quite — the answer is A.
Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) produces hallucinogenic compounds. Neurospora is used in genetics, Ustilago causes smut disease, and Morchella esculenta (morel) is edible.
Q27AIPMT 2014
Archaebacteria differ from eubacteria in:
Not quite — the answer is D.
Archaebacteria differ from eubacteria in having a different cell wall and cell membrane structure, with branched-chain lipids joined by ether links, which helps them survive extreme habitats. Shape, mode of nutrition and reproduction overlap between the two groups.
Q28NEET 2013
Select the wrong statement:
Not quite — the answer is C.
Oomycetes are oogamous: the female gamete (egg) is large and non-motile while the male gamete is small, so the statement that the female gamete is smaller and motile is reversed and wrong. The definitions of isogametes and anisogametes are correct, and Chlamydomonas does show isogamy and anisogamy while Fucus is oogamous.
Q29NEET 2013
Pigment-containing membranous extensions in some cyanobacteria are
Not quite — the answer is D.
Some cyanobacteria have chromatophores, membranous extensions of the plasma membrane into the cytoplasm that contain pigments. Heterocysts are nitrogen-fixing cells and basal bodies anchor flagella, so neither is a pigment-bearing membrane.
Q30NEET 2013
Which of the following are likely to be present in deep sea water?
Not quite — the answer is A.
Archaebacteria live in extreme habitats, and methanogens and other archaea are common in deep-sea sediments and hydrothermal vents. Blue-green algae need light and so are restricted to surface waters.
Q31AIPMT 2012 Mains
How many organisms in the list given below are autotrophs ? Lactobacillus, Nostoc, Chara, Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter, Streptomyces, Sacharomyces, Trypanosoma, Porphyra, Wolfia
Not quite — the answer is C.
Autotrophs make their own food: Nostoc, Chara, Porphyra and Wolffia are photosynthetic, while Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter are chemoautotrophs, giving six. Lactobacillus, Streptomyces, Saccharomyces and Trypanosoma are heterotrophs, so counting only the photosynthetic ones (four) is the trap.
Q32AIPMT 2012 Mains
Which one of the following sets of items in the options given below are correctly categorised with one exception in it?
Not quite — the answer is C.
Plasmodium and Trypanosoma are protozoan parasites, while Cuscuta is a parasitic flowering plant, so it is the true exception. UAG is itself a stop codon, the wombat is a marsupial, and diphtheria is a bacterial disease, so the 'exceptions' in the other sets are not exceptions.
Q33AIPMT 2012 Prelims
Maximum nutritional diversity is found in the group
Not quite — the answer is D.
Monera (bacteria) show the widest range of nutrition: photoautotrophs, chemoautotrophs and many kinds of heterotrophs (saprophytes, parasites, symbionts). Plantae are mostly autotrophic and Fungi and Animalia are heterotrophic.
Q34AIPMT 2012 Prelims
The most abundant prokaryotes helpful to humans in making curd from milk and in production of antibiotics are the ones categorised as
Not quite — the answer is A.
Heterotrophic bacteria are the most abundant bacteria in nature; Lactobacillus turns milk into curd and Streptomyces produces antibiotics. Cyanobacteria and chemosynthetic autotrophs make their own food, and archaebacteria live in extreme habitats.
Q35AIPMT 2012 Prelims
Which one single organism or the pair of organisms is correctly assigned to its or their named taxonomic group?
Not quite — the answer is D.
Yeast used in bread and beer is a fungus (Saccharomyces). Nostoc and Anabaena are Monera, Paramecium and Plasmodium are Protista while Penicillium is a fungus, and a lichen is an alga plus a fungus, not a protozoan.
Q36AIPMT 2012 Prelims
Nuclear membrane is absent in
Not quite — the answer is A.
Nostoc is a cyanobacterium, a prokaryote without a nuclear membrane. Penicillium and Agaricus (fungi) and Volvox (green alga) are eukaryotes with a true nucleus.
Q37AIPMT 2012 Prelims
The cyanobacteria are also referred to as
Not quite — the answer is A.
Cyanobacteria are also called blue-green algae because of their pigments and photosynthesis like algae, though they are prokaryotes. Golden algae are chrysophytes and slime moulds are protists.
Q38AIPMT 2011 Mains
The pathogen Microsporum responsible for ringworm disease in humans belongs to the same Kingdom of organisms as that of
Not quite — the answer is A.
Microsporum, which causes ringworm, is a fungus, so it shares kingdom Fungi with the mould Rhizopus. Ascaris, Taenia and Wuchereria are worms belonging to kingdom Animalia.
Q39AIPMT 2011 Prelims
Organisms called Methanogens are most abundant in a
Not quite — the answer is C.
Methanogens are strictly anaerobic archaebacteria found in marshy areas and in the rumen of cattle, where they produce methane from cellulose breakdown products. Cattle dung is therefore rich in them, which is why it is used for biogas. Hot springs harbour thermoacidophiles, a different archaebacterial group.
Q40AIPMT 2011 Prelims
Which one of the following is wrongly matched?
Not quite — the answer is C.
Puccinia causes rust disease of wheat; smuts are caused by Ustilago, so this pair is wrongly matched. Cassia does show imbricate aestivation, guttation is caused by root pressure, and roots have exarch protoxylem.
Q41AIPMT 2010 Mains · Q39
Black (stem) rust of wheat is caused by :
Not quite — the answer is C.
Black stem rust of wheat is caused by the basidiomycete rust fungus Puccinia graminis (f. sp. tritici). Ustilago nuda causes loose smut of wheat, Alternaria solani causes early blight of potato, and Xanthomonas oryzae is the bacterium of rice blight.
Q42AIPMT 2010 Mains · Q55
Select the correct combination of the statements (a-d) regarding the characteristics of certain organisms (a) Methanogens are Archaebacteria which produce methane in marshy areas (b) Nostoc is a filamentous blue-green alga which fixes atmospheric nitrogen (c) Chemosynthetic autotrophic bacteria synthesize cellulose from glucose (d) Mycoplasma lack a cell wall and can survive without oxygen The correct statement are
Not quite — the answer is D.
Methanogens are archaebacteria that produce methane in marshes, Nostoc is a filamentous cyanobacterium with heterocysts that fix nitrogen, and Mycoplasma has no cell wall and can survive without oxygen. Chemosynthetic bacteria oxidise inorganic substances such as nitrites or ammonia to get energy for making food; making cellulose from glucose is not what defines them.
Q43AIPMT 2010 Prelims · Q102
Some hyperthermophilic organisms that grow in highly acidic (pH2) habitats belong to the two groups
Not quite — the answer is B.
Only prokaryotes tolerate the combination of very high temperature and very low pH; archaebacteria such as thermoacidophiles live in hot acidic springs, and some eubacteria also survive there. Eukaryotic groups like mosses, liverworts, yeasts and diatoms cannot survive such extreme conditions.
Q44AIPMT 2010 Prelims · Q103
Infectious proteins are present in
Not quite — the answer is C.
Prions are abnormally folded infectious proteins that cause diseases such as BSE (mad cow disease) and CJD in humans. Viroids are the opposite case: they are free infectious RNA with no protein coat.
Q45AIPMT 2010 Prelims · Q105
Single-celled eukaryotes are included in
Not quite — the answer is B.
In Whittaker's five-kingdom system, Protista holds all single-celled eukaryotes. Monera and archaea are prokaryotes, and most fungi are multicellular.
Q46AIPMT 2009 Prelims · Q60
Which one is the wrong pairing for the disease and its causal organism?
Not quite — the answer is D.
Late blight of potato is caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans; Alternaria solani causes early blight of potato. The other three pairings (rust by Puccinia, smut by Ustilago, root-knot by the nematode Meloidogyne) are correct.
Q47AIPMT 2009 Prelims · Q64
T.O. Diener discovered a:
Not quite — the answer is D.
In 1971 T.O. Diener discovered the viroid, the agent of potato spindle tuber disease, which is a free low-molecular-weight RNA without a protein coat. An infectious protein is a prion, not a viroid.
Q48AIPMT 2009 Prelims · Q82
Oxygenic photosynthesis occurs in:
Not quite — the answer is A.
Oscillatoria is a cyanobacterium with chlorophyll a and photosystem II, so it splits water and releases oxygen like plants. Rhodospirillum, Chlorobium and Chromatium are purple or green photosynthetic bacteria that use H₂S or organic donors and do not release oxygen.
Q49AIPMT 2008 Prelims · Q102
Thermococcus, Methanococcus and Methanobacterium exemplify
Not quite — the answer is B.
These genera are methanogenic and hyperthermophilic archaebacteria, and many euryarchaea such as these carry small histone proteins clearly homologous to the eukaryotic core histones (H3/H4 fold) that wrap their DNA. The statement that they lack any eukaryote-like histones is therefore wrong; hyperthermophiles like Thermococcus also tend to have relaxed or positively supercoiled DNA owing to reverse gyrase.
Q50AIPMT 2008 Prelims · Q110
Cellulose is the major component of cell walls of
Not quite — the answer is B.
Pythium is an oomycete (traditionally a phycomycete) whose wall is made mainly of cellulose. Saccharomyces, a true fungus, has a chitin/glucan wall, while Xanthomonas and Pseudomonas are bacteria with peptidoglycan walls.
Q51AIPMT 2008 Prelims · Q115
In the light of recent classification of living organisms into three domains of life (bacteria, archaea and eukarya), which one of the following statements is true about archaea?
Not quite — the answer is C.
Archaea are prokaryotes that share some traits with bacteria and some with eukaryotes, and also have unique features such as ether-linked membrane lipids and distinctive cell walls. They neither completely differ from nor fully resemble the other groups, which rules out the absolute options.
Q52AIPMT 2007 Prelims · Q102
Which pair of the following belongs to Basidiomycetes?
Not quite — the answer is D.
Puffballs and bird's nest fungi both produce basidiospores on basidia inside a basidiocarp, so both are Basidiomycetes. Claviceps, Peziza and Morchella are sac fungi (Ascomycetes), so every other pair mixes in an ascomycete.
Q53AIPMT 2007 Prelims · Q125
Ergot of rye is caused by a species of
Not quite — the answer is C.
Ergot of rye is caused by the ascomycete Claviceps purpurea, which replaces grains with dark sclerotia. Ustilago causes smut, Uncinula causes powdery mildew and Phytophthora causes late blight.
Q54AIPMT 2007 Prelims · Q127
Which one of the following is a slime mould?
Not quite — the answer is A.
Physarum is a plasmodial slime mould, a saprophytic protist that forms a multinucleate plasmodium. Thiobacillus is a chemosynthetic bacterium, Anabaena a cyanobacterium and Rhizopus a true fungus.
Q55AIPMT 2007 Prelims · Q149
Which one of the following statements about mycoplasma is wrong?
Not quite — the answer is B.
Mycoplasma have no cell wall, and penicillin acts by blocking cell wall synthesis, so mycoplasma are resistant to it. They are pleomorphic, cause plant and animal diseases, and are known as PPLO, so those statements are true.
Q56AIPMT 2006 Prelims · Q127
The thalloid body of a slime mould (Myxomycetes) is known as :
Not quite — the answer is B.
Slime moulds form a mass of multinucleate protoplasm without walls called a plasmodium, which can spread over long distances. Mycelium is the network of hyphae of true fungi, and protonema is the juvenile stage of mosses.
Q57AIPMT 2006 Prelims · Q155
What is common about Trypanosoma, Noctiluca, Monocystis and Giardia ?
Not quite — the answer is A.
Trypanosoma, Noctiluca, Monocystis and Giardia are all single-celled eukaryotes, i.e. protists. Not all are parasites, since Noctiluca is a free-living marine dinoflagellate, and Monocystis has no flagella.
Q58AIPMT 2006 Prelims · Q158
Which of the following environmental conditions are essential for optimum growth of Mucor on a piece of bread ? A. Temperature of about 25°C B. Temperature of about 5°C C. Relative humidity of about 5% D. Relative humidity of about 95% E. A shady place F. A brightly illuminated place Choose the answer from the following options :
Not quite — the answer is B.
Bread mould (Mucor) grows best in warm (around 25°C), very humid and shady conditions. Cold (5°C), dry air or bright light slow its growth.
Q59AIPMT 2006 Prelims · Q186
The causative agent of mad-cow disease is a :
Not quite — the answer is B.
Mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is caused by prions, abnormally folded infectious proteins. It is not caused by a virus or bacterium.
Q60AIPMT 2005 Prelims · Q107
There exists a close association between the alga and the fungus within a lichen. The fungus :
Not quite — the answer is B.
In a lichen, the algal partner (phycobiont) photosynthesises and makes food. The fungal partner (mycobiont) gives shelter, anchorage, and absorbs water and minerals for it. Food and oxygen come from the alga, not the fungus.
Q61AIPMT 2005 Prelims · Q138
Barophilic prokaryotes :
Not quite — the answer is C.
'Baro' means pressure. Barophilic (piezophilic) prokaryotes thrive under the very high hydrostatic pressure of deep-sea sediments. The term has nothing to do with barium salts.
Q62AIPMT 2005 Prelims · Q139
Auxospores and hormocysts are formed, respectively, by :
Not quite — the answer is A.
Auxospores are formed by many diatoms to restore full cell size after repeated divisions shrink the silica frustule. Hormocysts are thick-walled, multicellular perennating filaments made by only a few filamentous cyanobacteria (such as Westiella). So the order is diatoms first, then cyanobacteria, and hormocysts are restricted to a few.
Q63AIPMT 2005 Prelims · Q189
Which of the following unicellular organism has a macro-nucleus for trophic function and one or more micro-nuclei for reproduction ?
Not quite — the answer is C.
Ciliates such as Paramecium have nuclear dimorphism: a large macronucleus controls everyday metabolism, and micronuclei take part in conjugation. Euglena, Amoeba and Trypanosoma each have a single kind of nucleus.
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