Fungal natural products are friends and foes of humans such as deleterious mycotoxins, cytotoxic, carcinogenic compounds or beneficial compounds such as antibiotics, fungicides, insecticides, antiviral and antitumor metabolites. Understanding fungal diversity and estimation of fungal species on our planet poses a great challenge to researchers. This complexity is further multiplied by secondary metabolite diversity of fungi, which requires interdisciplinary studies. It is extremely important to understand the fungal secondary metabolism to stop human, animal and plant diseases caused by fungi and harvest their valuable metabolites. Furthermore, many secondary metabolite gene clusters are silenced under laboratory conditions. It is vital to develop effective methods to activate those clusters in order to discover novel potent metabolites. This e-book is a compilation of original review articles contributed by leading fungal secondary metabolite researchers with a wide range of expertise. Important aspects of fungal secondary metabolism, including regulation, genome mining, evolution, synthetic biology and novel methods have been discussed. This book will be a great source to those people, who are interested in understanding overall structure, diversity and regulation of production of these tiny but precious chemicals.

Fungal natural products are friends and foes of humans such as deleterious mycotoxins, cytotoxic, carcinogenic compounds or beneficial compounds such as antibiotics, fungicides, insecticides, antiviral and antitumor metabolites. Understanding fungal diversity and estimation of fungal species on our planet poses a great challenge to researchers. This complexity is further multiplied by secondary metabolite diversity of fungi, which requires interdisciplinary studies. It is extremely important to understand the fungal secondary metabolism to stop human, animal and plant diseases caused by fungi and harvest their valuable metabolites. Furthermore, many secondary metabolite gene clusters are silenced under laboratory conditions. It is vital to develop effective methods to activate those clusters in order to discover novel potent metabolites. This e-book is a compilation of original review articles contributed by leading fungal secondary metabolite researchers with a wide range of expertise. Important aspects of fungal secondary metabolism, including regulation, genome mining, evolution, synthetic biology and novel methods have been discussed. This book will be a great source to those people, who are interested in understanding overall structure, diversity and regulation of production of these tiny but precious chemicals.

Primary and secondary metabolism; Fungi, their cultivation and their secondary metabolism; Secondary metabolites derived without the intervention of acetate; Secondary metabolites derived from fatty acids; Polyketides; Terpenes and steroids; Secondary metabolites derived from intermediates of the tricarboxylic acid cycle; Secondary metabolites derived from amino-acids; Miscellaneous secondary metabolites; Addendum; Formula index; Organism index; Subject index.

This volume describes the more relevant secondary metabolites of different fungi with current information on their biosynthesis and molecular genetics. Bolstered with color illustrations and photographs, the book describes the possible application of molecular genetics to directed strain improvement in great detail. The needs for future developments in this field are also discussed at length Written by authorities in the field, Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites provides a cutting-edge perspective on fungal secondary metabolism and underlying genetics and is a valuable resource for scientists, researchers, and educators in the field of fungal biology.

​Fungi produce many chemically diverse secondary metabolites whose biological roles largely remain elusive. Within the increasing number of sequenced fungal genomes several important genes involved in secondary metabolite formation have been identified. Most of these genes are clustered and their coordinated transcription is controlled in a complex way by both narrow pathway-specific regulators as well as broad global transcription factors responsive to environmental cues. In recent years it was discovered many of the newly identified gene clusters are silent under laboratory conditions suggesting that the biosynthetic potential of fungi is far from being exploited. Besides identifying novel bioactive metabolites from still unexplored sources, the activation of these gene clusters by several approaches may result in the discovery of new substances with antibiotic and pharmaceutical benefits. This book covers recent advances in the field of fungal secondary metabolisms ranging from methodologies to biological aspects and will include the latest knowledge on fungal molecular biology, genomics, and metabolomics. With the related volume by Professor Juan-Francisco Martin, where the most relevant and well-studied fungal secondary metabolites are compiled, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art of research on fungal secondary metabolites.

Fungal Secondary Metabolites: Synthesis and Applications in Agroecosystem presents the properties and biotechnological applications of microbial metabolites and their industrial, pharmaceutical, antimicrobial, and anticancer applications. Chapters cover topics such as the role of fungal metabolites in the management of abiotic stress, microbial alkaloids and their pharmaceutical and agricultural applications, and fungal metabolites as novel plant pathogen antagonists. Plant and agri-food environmental scientists, researchers, graduate, and post-graduate students in related fields will find value in this reference which is published as part of the series Nanobiotechnology for Plant Protection. Addresses the link between fungal secondary metabolites and health Covers cryptic genes and their link to the production of bioactive compounds Explores possibilities for producing bio-based business solutions