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Sulphur-oxidizing bacteria are the important organism of sulphur cycle. SOB is the dominating prokaryote with the ability to oxidize sulphur in to absorbable form sulphate. The ability to metabolize organic and inorganic form of sulphur make them organism of interest in soil. In nature SOB are the versatile microorganisms found in normal to acidic/alkaline soil, water habitat to extreme conditions of geothermal areas, acid drains and volcanic eruptions. The amount of sulphur oxidation depends on the physico-chemical conditions. The quantity of sulphate ion produced by SOB is drastically affected by cultural conditions. Attempts are made to standardize the cultural conditions and same was optimized for five SOB. The incubation time was optimized to 2 days at 300C with media pH 8.0. The carbon source improving sulphate ion production is glucose and nitrogen source is ammonium chloride.

Medicinal plants are one of the most sensitive commodity areas of research in the world today. India is the treasure of traditional knowledge of alternative medicine in the world. The importance of medicinal plant in disease control was well explained in Vedas. Cissusquadrangularis L. has been documented in Ayurveda, as a curative medicine for various diseases made it important ancient medicinal plant for pharmacological study. The extract obtained from C.quadrangularis is a magical remedy in gout, syphilis, piles, venereal disease and leucorrhoea. Chromatographic techniques are the strong tool to reveal the constituents of medicinal plant with curative mechanism to be discovered. Among them HPLC and HPTLC are the strong tools for the phytochemical studies.

The emphasis on search of new plant-derived drugs containing medicinally useful chemical constituents has increased in the last two decade. Additionally medicinal herbs are considered to be a chemical factory as it contains multitude of chemical compounds like alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, resins, oleoresin, and oils (essential and fixed). The studies on medicinal plant begin with knowing the anatomy and morphology of the plant followed by biochemical charcetrization and extraction of compounds of interest.Cissus quadrangularis L. is an important medicinal plant with diverse applications in alternative medicines. The extracts obtained from plant were used in treatment from ancient time as documented in Ayurveda.

Soybean is an important oil seed crop produced in India, Madhya Pradesh is the largest soybean producing state. Charcoal rot caused by Macrophomina phaseolina is a major threat to soybean production leading to 30-50% yield loss. Biological control is an effective measure for management of this disease. Soil rhizosphere is a rich source of beneficial microbes able to suppress plant pathogens and promote plant growth. Present study aimed at isolating and characterizing indigenous antagonistic bacteria against M. phaseolina causing charcoal rot in soybean.