This volume brings together detailed practical guidance from experienced researchers using genetic, genomic, cellular and biochemical methods, to attempt to determine the functions of genes and how they contribute to the biology of fungi.

The motivation for writing this book came the insights gained 10 years of teaching a are-quarter graduate level course in fungal physiology to students in botany, mycology, microbiology, and plant pathology at the ohio state university. during that period many excellent books were published on all facets of fungal physiology; they included monographs, symposium volumes, and long, ong treatises.

Symbiotic Fungi – Principles and Practice presents current protocols for the study of symbiotic fungi and their interactions with plant roots, such as techniques for analyzing nutrient transfer, ecological restoration, microbial communication, and mycorrhizal bioassays, AM inoculum procedures and mushroom technology. The protocols offer practical solutions for researchers and students involved in the study of symbiotic microorganisms. The volume will be of great use for basic research, biotechnological applications, and the development of commercial products.

This book has passed through a number of editions each involving some modifications while retaining the general character of the first. The most substantial changes occurred in the fifth (1983), but that is now out-of-date. Mycology has not been immune from the rapid evolution of biology in the past decade and the preparation was a long way beyond the capacity of the older writer (C.T.I.). So a younger one (H.J.H.) has collaborated with him. Substantial changes have been made throughout, particularly in relation to taxonomy but in general Chapters 1-7 have undergone relatively little revision. However, this is not true of Chapters 8-12 where the influence of the younger author is paramount. The basic idea of the book remains, namely to present fungi as living organisms profoundly affecting the lives of other kinds of living organisms, especially Man. Their study is of the greatest importance and what is more it is great fun. Many of the diagrams have been retained, but some have been redrawn and new ones added. Weare pleased to acknowledge the patience and artistic skills of Mrs Lindsay J. Wilson in producing these. Some coloured plates have also been introduced from photographs taken by H.J .H.

This new edition of The Fungi provides a comprehensive introduction to the importance of fungi in the natural world and in practical applications, from a microbiological perspective.

Although study of the physiology of the fungi has not kept pace with that of, for example, bacterial metabolism, it has in recebts decades had much the same development. It seems fair to say that there have been two disparate types of study. Research on some problems-reproduction, parasitism, development-has been, with significant but not very numerous exceptions, descriptive. At the other extreme, it has been possible to develop basic biochemical knowledge on the implicit assumption that the microbial cell is a small bag of enzymes which only require to be extracted and enumerated.

The available literature on freshwater fungi is limited. Over the subsequent years a considerable volume of scientific papers have appeared scattered throughout numerous journals. There is therefore no recent synthesis of the subject and this is the objective of the proposed book. Freshwater habitats are rich in fungi with some 3,000 described species, most of papers focussing on their identification, substrata they grow on and world distribution. However, these fungi play an important role in the freshwater ecosystem, and are primarily involved in the breakdown of leaf litter contributing food for detritus feeders. Our book will bring together a wide range of acclaimed mycologists to review recent developments on the biology and ecology of freshwater fungi, particularly their molecular phylogeny, biodiversity, causative diseases of freshwater amphibians, fishes and invertebrate animals, decomposition of leaf litter, stream pollution and their potential role in bioremediation.

Fungi are now at the forefront of research on mechanisms in gene silencing, biological rhythm, mating processes, biogenesis of intracellular organelles, adaptations to hostile habitats, structure of natural populations, and speciation. Because of their small genomes, fungi are being used in "systems biology" to understand the connections between ge