Life cycle. Taxonony. Host-pathogen relations. Spore biology. Axenic culture of rusts. Control of rust diseases.

Plants, fungi, and viruses were among the first biological objects studied with an electron microscope. One of the two first instruments built by Siemens was used by Helmut Ruska, a brother of Ernst Ruska, the pioneer in constructing electron microscopes. H. Ruska published numerous papers on different biological objects in 1939. In one of these, the pictures by G. A. Kausche, E. Pfankuch, and H. Ruska of tobacco mosaic virus opened a new age in microscopy. The main problem was then as it still is today, to obtain an appropriate preparation of the specimen for observation in the electron microscope. Beam damage and specimen thickness were the first obstacles to be met. L. Marton in Brussels not only built his own instrument, but also made considerable progress in specimen preparation by introducing the impregnation of samples with heavy metals to obtain useful contrast. His pictures of the bird nest orchid root impregnated with osmium were revolutionary when published in 1934. It is not the place here to recall the different techniques which were developed in the subsequent years to attain the modern knowledge on the fine structure of plant cells and of different plant pathogens. The tremendous progress obtained with tobacco mosaic virus is reflected in the chapter by M. Wurtz on the fine structure of viruses in this Volume. New cytochemical and immunological techniques considerably surpass the morphological information obtained from the pathogens, especially at the host-parasite interface.

The Cereal Rusts, Volume I: Origins, Specificity, Structure, and Physiology presents the historical, evolutionary, taxonomic, structural, genetic, and physiological characteristics of cereal rust fungi and the diseases they cause in cereal crops. The cereal rusts are potentially serious disease threats to cereal crops and have caused widespread losses in wheat, oats, barley, and related crops. This three-part volume brings together in a single reference source the accumulated knowledge, complex, challenging science of cereal rusts. The first chapters of this 16-chapter volume cover the pioneering contributions of early scientists to the knowledge of cereal rusts, the evolution of cereal rusts, and the taxonomy of cereal rust fungi. The book also examines the specificity of cereal rusts including formae speciales, race specificity, pathogen-host genetics, histology and molecular biology of host parasite specificity, and the genetics of rust fungus populations as reflected by virulence frequency. The text further discusses the structure and physiology aspects; the germination of urediospores and differentiation of infection structures; and the infection under artificial conditions. The ultrastructure of hyphae and urediospores; the development and physiology of teliospores; and the obligate parasitism and axenic culture of rust fungi are also explained. This volume also encompasses the structure and physiology of haustoria; structural and physiological alterations in susceptible hosts; and effects of rust on plant development in relation to nutrient translocation. Cereal rust investigators, plant pathologists, agronomists, agriculturalists, research biochemists, cytologists, geneticists, physiologists, taxonomists, epidemiologists, and pathologists will find this book invaluable.

Fungal Phylogenetics and Phylogenomics, Volume 100, the latest release in the Advances in Genetics series, presents users with new chapters that delve into such topics as the Advances of fungal phylogenomics and the impact on fungal systematics, Data crunching for fungal phylogenomics: insights into data collection and phylogenetic inference based on genome data for fungi, Genomic and epigenomic traits of emerging fungal pathogens, Advances in fungal gene cluster diversity and evolution, Phylogenomics of Fusarium oxysporum species complex, Phylogenomic analyses of pathogenic yeasts, and the Phylogenetics and phylogenomics of rust fungi. The series continually publishes important reviews of the broadest interest to geneticists and their colleagues in affiliated disciplines, critically analyzing future directions. - Critically analyzes future directions for the study of clinical genetics - Written and edited by recognized leaders in the field - Presents new medical breakthroughs that are occurring as a result of advances in our knowledge of genetics