This treatise is focused on early aspects of fungal pathogenesis in plant and animal hosts. Our aim in choosing the topics and contributors was to demonstrate common approaches to studies of fungal-plant and fungal-animal interactions, particularly at the biochemical and molecular Ievels. For example, the initial events of adh«sion of fungal spores to the exposed surface tissues of the host are essential for subsequent invasion of the plant or animal and establishment of pathogenesis. A point of consensus among investigators who have directed their attention to such events in plants, insects, and vertebrates isthat spore adhesion to the host cuticle or epithelium is more than a simple binding event. lt is a complex and potentially pivotal process in fungal-plant interactions which "may involve the secretion of ftuids that prepare the infection court for the development of morphological stages of the germling" and subsequent invasion of the host (Nicholson and Epstein, Chapter 1). The attachment of the fungal propagule to the arthropod cuticle is also "mediated by the chemical components present on the outer layer of the spore wall and the epicuticle . . . . Initial attachment may be reinforced further by either the active secretion of adhesive materials or the modification of spore wall materiallocated at the [fungal spore arthropod] cuticle interface (Boucias and Pendland, Chapter 5).

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.

A dormancy and activation of fungall spores; Germination of fungal spores; Form and function of fungal spores; Workshop; Milestones and predictions of future trends in fungal spore research.

The present atlas is addressed mainly to those who, departing from different spheres of interest, are studying the dispersal of fungus spores in the air, like aero biologists, plant pathologists, medical mycologists, allergologists, or those interested in spore morphology as a taxonomic tool. The steadily increasing interest in air pollution problems has also stimulat ed investigations in the microbiological fraction of air pollutants. During the last decades the study of microbial life in the atmosphere has developed to a special branch of biological sciences - aerobiology of which the first studies are from the end of the last century. Besides pollen grains and spores of higher plants and bacteria, fungal diaspores contribute a constant and sub stantial part of the airborne microorganisms. Methods for studying airborne spores are described and critically discussed by e. g. Dimmick and Akers (1969), Ingold (1971) and Gregory (1973). The actual content of fungus spores in the air is a result of complicated processes, all of which are influ enced by external factors in different ways. The influence of the different meteorological factors on spore formation, liberation, transport and deposi tion is essentially discussed by Ingold and Gregory. There are considerable difficulties in identifying detached fungus spores visually. The taxonomy of the fungi is often based on the ontogeny of the spores which cannot be followed by examination of single spores in the air. The conidial development in Deuteromycotina and structure of conidiopho res are excellently described and illustrated by Cole and Samson (1979).

Fungi are ubiquitous in the world and responsible for driving the evolution and governing the sustainability of ecosystems now and in the past. Fossil Fungi is the first encyclopedic book devoted exclusively to fossil fungi and their activities through geologic time. The book begins with the historical context of research on fossil fungi (paleomycology), followed by how fungi are formed and studied as fossils, and their age. The next six chapters focus on the major lineages of fungi, arranging them in phylogenetic order and placing the fossils within a systematic framework. For each fossil the age and provenance are provided. Each chapter provides a detailed introduction to the living members of the group and a discussion of the fossils that are believed to belong in this group. The extensive bibliography (~ 2700 entries) includes papers on both extant and fossil fungi. Additional chapters include lichens, fungal spores, and the interactions of fungi with plants, animals, and the geosphere. The final chapter includes a discussion of fossil bacteria and other organisms that are fungal-like in appearance, and known from the fossil record. The book includes more than 475 illustrations, almost all in color, of fossil fungi, line drawings, and portraits of people, as well as a glossary of more than 700 mycological and paleontological terms that will be useful to both biologists and geoscientists. First book devoted to the whole spectrum of the fossil record of fungi, ranging from Proterozoic fossils to the role of fungi in rock weathering Detailed discussion of how fossil fungi are preserved and studied Extensive bibliography with more than 2000 entries Where possible, fungal fossils are placed in a modern systematic context Each chapter within the systematic treatment of fungal lineages introduced with an easy-to-understand presentation of the main characters that define extant members Extensive glossary of more than 700 entries that define both biological, geological, and mycological terminology