This book illustrates the multiple roles of fungi in everyday life. Fungi are the large group of organisms with tremendous diversity and economic importance. Their ability to produce commercially efficient useful products makes them the vulnerable sustainable tool for the future generation. This book describes a systems approach and provides a means to share the latest developments and advances about the benefits of fungi including their wide application, traditional uses, modern practices, along with designing of strategies to harness their potential. The chapters are organized with data, providing information related to different sustainable aspects of fungi in agriculture, its cultivation and conservation strategies, industrial and environmental utilization, advanced bioconversion technologies and modern biotechnological interventions. Updated information and current opinion related to its application for sustainable agriculture, environment, and industries as futuristic tools have been presented and discussed in different chapters. The book also elucidates a comprehensive yet a representative description of the challenges associated with the sustained application of fungi to achieve the goals of sustainability.

Fungi are an understudied, biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. Due to their immense range of habitats, and the consequent need to compete against a diverse array of other fungi, bacteria, and animals, fungi have developed numerous survival mechanisms. However, besides their major basic positive role in the cycling of minerals, organic matter and mobilizing insoluble nutrients, fungi have other beneficial impacts: they are considered good sources of food and active agents for a number of industrial processes involving fermentation mechanisms as in the bread, wine and beer industry. A number of fungi also produce biologically important metabolites such as enzymes, vitamins, antibiotics and several products of important pharmaceutical use; still others are involved in the production of single cell proteins. The economic value of these marked positive activities has been estimated as approximating to trillions of US dollars. The unique attributes of fungi thus herald great promise for their application in biotechnology and industry. Since ancient Egyptians mentioned in their medical prescriptions how they can use green molds in curing wounds as the obvious historical uses of penicillin, fungi can be grown with relative ease, making production at scale viable. The search for fungal biodiversity, and the construction of a living fungi collection, both have incredible economic potential in locating organisms with novel industrial uses that will lead to novel products. Fungi have provided the world with penicillin, lovastatin, and other globally significant medicines, and they remain an untapped resource with enormous industrial potential. Volume 1 of Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development provides an overview to understanding fungal diversity from diverse habitats and their industrial application for future sustainability. It encompasses current advanced knowledge of fungal communities and their potential biotechnological applications in industry and allied sectors. The book will be useful to scientists, researchers, and students of microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, and environmental biology.

Fungi are an essential, fascinating and biotechnologically useful group of organisms with an incredible biotechnological potential for industrial exploitation. Knowledge of the world's fungal diversity and its use is still incomplete and fragmented. There are many opportunities to accelerate the process of filling knowledge gaps in these areas. The worldwide interest of the current era is to increase the tendency to use natural substances instead of synthetic ones. The increasing urge in society for natural ingredients has compelled biotechnologists to explore novel bioresources which can be exploited in industrial sector. Fungi, due to their unique attributes and broad range of their biological activities hold great promises for their application in biotechnology and industry. Fungi are an efficient source of antioxidants, enzymes, pigments, and many other secondary metabolites. The large scale production of fungal pigments and their utility provides natural coloration without creating harmful effects on entering the environment, a safer alternative use to synthetic colorants. The fungal enzymes can be exploited in wide range of industries such as food, detergent, paper, and also for removal toxic waste. This book will serve as valuable source of information as well as will provide new directions to researchers to conduct novel research in field of mycology. Volume 2 of "Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development" provides an overview to understanding bioprospecting of fungal biomolecules and their industrial application for future sustainability. It encompasses current advanced knowledge of fungal communities and their potential biotechnological applications in industry and allied sectors. The book will be useful to scientists, researchers, and students of microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, and environmental biology.

Uniquely modern textbook providing a broad, all-round understanding of fungal biology and the biological systems to which fungi contribute.

Interwoven with short essays on the lessons of the fungi, Radial Mycology begins with chapters that explore the uniqueness of fungal biology, the critical ecological roles of micro and macro fungi, how to accurately identify mushrooms and mycorrhizal fungi, the importance of lichens as medicines and indicators of environmental quality, and the profound influences that fungi have held on the evolution of all life and human cultures. With this foundation laid, the reader is then equipped to work with the fungi directly. Techniques for making potent fungal medicines, growing fermenting fungi for food, and cheaply cultivating mushrooms using recycled tools (and yet still achieving lab-quality results) are explored in-depth. Subsequent chapters grow far beyond the limits of other books on mushrooms. Detailed information on the principles and practices of natural mushroom farming--largely influenced by the design system of permaculture--is presented along with extensive information on cultivating mycorrhizal fungi and the science of mycoremediation, the application of fungi to mitigate pollution in the environment and in our homes. The book ends with deeper insights into the social effects that fungi present from the reflection of mycelial networks in the design of whole societies to a rigorous examination of the history of psychoactive fungi. Written for the beginner as well as the experienced mycologist, Radical Mycology is an invaluable reference book for anyone interested in Do-It-Yourself (or Do-It-Together) homesteading, community organizing, food security, natural medicine, grassroots bioremediation, and the evolution of human-fungal-ecological relations. More than a book on mushrooms, Radical Mycology is a call to ally with the fungi in all efforts to spawn a healthier world. Heavily referenced and vibrantly illustrated by the author, this unprecedented book will undoubtedly remain a classic for generations to come.

Outlines the development of the main branches of mycology.

Many mushrooms - or the 'fruits of fungi' - are extremely valuable, wild-gathered products which are utilised for both their medicinal properties and as food. In many of the world's tropical and temperate forests, they are the primary source of income for the people who live there. These forests range from temperate woodlands and small forests to high altitude forests in the Himalaya and tropical miombo woodlands in south-central Africa. In south-west China, over 200 species of wild fungi in 64 genera are commercially traded while in Europe and North America, woodlands and small forests are the source of many highly-prized mushrooms and an essential resource for many small enterprises and collectors. Yet the increased demand for timber has resulted in the rapid expansion of forestry, which in turn has destroyed the natural habitat of many fungi, unbalancing both forest economics and ecology. Despite the economic, social and cultural values of fungi, there is a general lack of understanding of their importance to local livelihoods and forest ecology. This book aims to fill this gap and extends the People and Plants Conservation Series beyond the plant kingdom into the related world of fungi and mushrooms. It demonstrates the crucial roles that fungi play in maintaining forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of rural people throughout the world while providing good practice guidelines for the sustainable management of this resource and an assessment of economic value. It brings together the perspectives of biologists, anthropologists and forest and woodland managers to provide a unique inter-disciplinary and international overview of the key issues.

“Mushrooms are having a moment. [A] natural sequel for the many readers who enjoyed Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life.”—Library Journal “Bierend writes with sensual verve and specificity, enthusiasm, and humor. . . . [He] introduces us to the staggering variety of mushrooms, their mystery, their funk, and the way they captivate our imaginations.”—The Boston Globe “Nothing is impossible if you bring mushrooms into your life, and reading this book is a great way to begin your journey.”—Tradd Cotter, author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation From ecology to fermentation, in pop culture and in medicine—mushrooms are everywhere. With an explorer’s eye, author Doug Bierend guides readers through the weird, wonderful world of fungi and the amazing mycological movement. In Search of Mycotopia introduces us to an incredible, essential, and oft-overlooked kingdom of life—fungi—and all the potential it holds for our future, through the work and research being done by an unforgettable community of mushroom-mad citizen scientists and microbe devotees. This entertaining and mind-expanding book will captivate readers who are curious about the hidden worlds and networks that make up our planet. Bierend uncovers a vanguard of mycologists: growers, independent researchers, ecologists, entrepreneurs, and amateur enthusiasts exploring and advocating for fungi’s capacity to improve and heal. From decontaminating landscapes and waterways to achieving food security, In Search of Mycotopia demonstrates how humans can work with fungi to better live with nature—and with one another. “Comprehensive and enthusiastic. . . . This fascinating, informative look into a unique subculture and the fungi at its center is a real treat.”—Publishers Weekly “If you enjoyed Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life . . . I highly recommend this book. . . . In the vein of Louis Theroux, Bierend journeys deep in the wonderfully strange subculture of the mushroom-mad.”—Idler magazine "Engaging and entertaining. . . .Bierend proves his skill as a science journalist through interviews and experiences shared with mushroom experts and citizen scientists."—Choice

Tropical mycology is attracting increasing interest, as the key role of fungi in tropical ecosystems and as pathogens becomes appreciated. This book describes the ecology, biology, economic dimensions and systematics of tropical Micromycetes and is the second of two complementary volumes (Volume 1 covers Macromycetes) developed from papers given at the British Mycological Society's symposium held in Liverpool in April 2000.