Twenty-four isolates of Rhizoctonia solani (teleomorph: Thanatephorus cucumeris) collected from soil, root and collar rot or foliage blight-infected plants from several locations of north India were used for the analysis of variability by using morphological and molecular markers. Among the morphological characters, variation was observed in hyphal cell size. Seventeen isolates produced few to abundant, white to dark brown or black, small to large sclerotia generally in the middle of the colony. Genetic variation was also analysed by using 11 random amplified polymorphic DNA primers (RAPD), four universal rice primers (URPs) and two inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers and fingerprint patterns generated for each isolate. The size of amplified DNA bands ranged from 0.3 to 3.5 kb in all the isolates with RAPD, URP and ISSR markers. The isolates obtained from same hosts and same geographical regions showed similarity in DNA fingerprint profiles barring few exceptions. All the isolates were classified into four groups using DNA markers. A comparison of the data obtained from different markers showed that URPs are superior to RAPD, ISSR and morphological markers in detecting genetic variability among the isolates of R. solani. Hence, use of URP's, which have long primer and higher annealing temperature, would be more sensitive and reliable markers in characterizing genetic diversity in R. solani.www.blackwell-synergy.com

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The word "sustained release" is recognized to have existed in the medical and pharmaceutical literature for many decades. Oral drug delivery is the most preferred route for the various drug molecules among all other routes of drug delivery, because ease of administration which lead to better patient compliance. The goal of any drug delivery system is to supply a therapeutic quantity of drug to the suitable site in the body and then maintain the desired drug concentration A well designed controlled drug delivery system can overcome some of problems of conventional. therapy and enhance therapeutic efficacy of the given drug. There are different approaches in delivering therapeutic material to the goal site in sustained release fashion. One such approach is of the microspheres as carriers for drug. There are various departments of medicine like cancer, pulmonary, cardiology, radiology, gynecology, oncology and diabetes etc, number of drugs are used and they delivered by various types of drug delivery system. Among the sustained release of drugs has gained enormous attention due to its wide range of application and maximum time up to drug release. Moreover the microspheres are of micron size so they can easily fit into various micron size capillary beds. The main purpose of this review is to compile various types of sustained release microspheres, method of preparation, its application and also various parameters to evaluate their efficiency.