In the past half century, filamentous fungi have grown in commercial importance not only in the food industry but also as sources of pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of infectious and metabolic diseases and of specialty proteins and enzymes used to process foods, fortify detergents, and perform biotransformations. The commercial impact of molds is also measured on a negative scale since some of these organisms are significant as pathogens of crop plants, agents of food spoilage, and sources of toxic and carcinogenic compounds. Recent advances in the molecular genetics of filamentous fungi are finding increased application in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, and enzyme industries, and this trend promises to continue as the genomics of fungi is explored and new techniques to speed genetic manipulation become available. This volume focuses on the filamentous fungi and highlights the advances of the past decade, both in methodology and in the understanding of genomic organization and regulation of gene and pathway expression.

In the past two decades, fungal biotechnology has progressed at a fast pace. Advances in Fungal Biotechnology provides coverage of these advances, and of the multiple roles played by fungi. This includes the industrial applications of fungi for the production of pigments, citric acid and vitamins, the beneficial effects of mycorrhizal fungi, mycoviruses, and biotransformation. Key features: Focuses on Biocontrol strategies of fungi. Deals with the role of fungal enzymesxylanases and laccases. Discusses mycoviruses as an emerging tool for controlling pathogenic fungi. Incorporates industrial applications, such as the production of pigments, citric acid and vitamins. Addresses biotransformation by fungi. Illustrates the role of mycorrhizal fungi in revegetation programmes. Covers health implications (allergy, mycotoxins, tinea infections). Examines the role of the internet in Mycology.

White biotechnology, or industrial biotechnology as it is also known, refers to the use of living cells and/or their enzymes to create industrial products that are more easily degradable, require less energy, create less waste during production and sometimes perform better than products created using traditional chemical processes. Over the last decade considerable progress has been made in white biotechnology research, and further major scientific and technological breakthroughs are expected in the future. Fungi are ubiquitous in nature and have been sorted out from different habitats, including extreme environments (high temperature, low temperature, salinity and pH), and may be associated with plants (epiphytic, endophytic and rhizospheric). The fungal strains are beneficial as well as harmful for human beings. The beneficial fungal strains may play important roles in the agricultural, industrial, and medical sectors. The fungal strains and their products (enzymes, bioactive compounds, and secondary metabolites) are very useful for industry (e.g., the discovery of penicillin from Penicillium chrysogenum). This discovery was a milestone in the development of white biotechnology as the industrial production of penicillin and antibiotics using fungi moved industrial biotechnology into the modern era, transforming it into a global industrial technology. Since then, white biotechnology has steadily developed and now plays a key role in several industrial sectors, providing both high value nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products. The fungal strains and bioactive compounds also play an important role in environmental cleaning. This volume covers the latest developments and research in white biotechnology with a focus on diversity and enzymes.

Fungi playa major role in the sustainability of the biosphere, and mycorrhizal fungi are essential for the growth of many of our woods and forests. The applications of fungi in agriculture, industry and biotechnology remain of paramount importance, as does their use as a source of drugs and to help clean up our environment. This volume contains key papers from the conference 'From Ethnomycology to Fungal Biotechnology: Exploiting Fungi from Natural Resources for Novel Products'. This was the first international scientific conference covering the transfer of traditional remedies and processes in ethnomycology to modern fungal biotechnology. The conference was held at Simla, Himachal Pradesh, India from 15 to 16 December 1997. The key subject areas addressed in the conference were the issues of exploring and exploiting fungal diversity for novel leads to new antibiotics, enzymes, medicines and a range of other leads for wood preservation, biological control, agricultural biotechnology and the uses of fungi in the food industry. The conference programme included key-note presentations followed by poster sessions and general discussion. The book is broadly based, covering five main areas: Ethnomycology, Fungal Biotechnology, Biological Control, Mycorrhizal Fungi and Fungal Pests. There is no doubt that in the past fungi have played a key role in ethnomycological remedies and that in the future they will continue to attract the interest of a wide range of disciplines ranging from environmental conservation, agriculture and the food industry to wood preservation and aerobiological studies.

Over the last decade considerable progress has been made in white biotechnology research and further major scientific and technological breakthroughs are expected in the future. The first large-scale industrial applications of modern biotechnology have been in the areas of food and animal feed production (agricultural/green biotechnology) and in pharmaceuticals (medical/red biotechnology). In contrast, the productions of bio-active compounds through fermentation or enzymatic conversion are known as industrial or white biotchnology. The fungi are ubiquitous in nature and have been sorted out from different habitats, including extreme environments (high temperature, low temperature salinity and pH);and associated with plants (Epiphytic, Endophytic and Rhizospheric). The fungal strains are beneficial as well as harmful for human beings. The beneficial fungal strains may play important roles in the agricultural, industrial, and medical sectors. The fungal strains and its product (enzymes, bioactive compounds, and secondary metabolites) are very useful for industry (e.g., the discovery of penicillin from Penicillium chrysogenum). This discovery was a milestone in the development of white biotechnology as the industrial production of penicillin and antibiotics using fungi moved industrial biotechnology into the modern era, transforming it into a global industrial technology. Since then, white biotechnology has steadily developed and now plays a key role in several industrial sectors providing both high value nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products. The fungal strains and bioactive compounds also play an important role in environmental cleaning. This volume covers the latest research developments related to value-added products in white biotechnology through fungi.

Fungi have an integral role to play in the development of the biotechnology and biomedical sectors. The fields of chemical engineering, Agri-food,Biochemical, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical device development all employ fungal products, with fungal biomolecules currently used in a wide range of applications, ranging from drug development to food technology and agricultural biotechnology. Understanding the biology of different fungi in diverse ecosystems, as well as their biotropic interactions with other microorganisms, animals and plants, is essential to underpin effective and innovative technological developments. Fungal Biomolecules is a keystone reference, integrating branches of fungal product research into a comprehensive volume of interdisciplinary research. As such, it: reflects state-of-the-art research and current emerging issues in fungal biology and biotechnology reviews the methods and experimental work used to investigate different aspects of fungal biomolecules provides examples of the diverse applications of fungal biomolecules in the areas of food, health and the environment is edited by an experienced team, with contributions from international specialists This book is an invaluable resource for industry-based researchers, academic institutions and professionals working in the area of fungal biology and associated biomolecules for their applications in food technology, microbial and biochemical process, biotechnology, natural products, drug development and agriculture.

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.