Main description:

This book explores the developments in important aspects of fungi related to the environment, industrial mycology, microbiology, biotechnology, and agriculture. It discusses at length both basic and applied aspects of fungi and provides up-to-date laboratory-based data.

Of the estimated three million species of fungi on Earth, according to Hawksworth and coworkers, more than 100,000 have been described to date. Many fungi produce toxins, organic acids, antibiotics and other secondary metabolites, and are sources of useful biocatalysts such as cellulases, xylanases, proteases and pectinases, to mention a few. They can also cause diseases in animals as well as plants and many are able to break down complex organic molecules such as lignin and pollutants like xenobiotics, petroleum and polycyclic aromatic compounds. Current research on mushrooms focuses on their hypoglycemic, anti-cancer, anti-pathogenic and immunity-enhancing activities.

This ready-reference resource on various aspects of fungi is intended for graduate and post-graduate students as well as researchers in life sciences, microbiology, botany, environmental sciences and biotechnology.

Contents:

1. Significant contributions of Prof. Shyam Bahadur Saksena to Indian mycology

R. S. Mehrotra, M.R. Siddiqui and Ashok Aggarwal

2. Biology and significance of Saksenea vasiformis

Itisha Singh and R.K.S.Kushwaha

3. History of Mycology in India: Some Glimpses

C. Manoharachary

4.Various aspects of ammonia fungi

Akira Suzuki

5. Marine Filamentous Fungi: Diversity, Distribution and Bioprospecting

K.R. Sridhar,

6. Keratinophilic Fungi and Their Biotechnological Potentials

ShilpaVerekar and Sunil Kumar Deshmukh

7. Fungal World of Cave Ecosystem

Seema Rawat, Rachna Rautela and B.N. Johri

8. Biology of Anaerobic Gut Fungi

D.N. Kamra and Birbal Singh

;

9.. Fusarium oxysporum: Genomics, diversity and plant host interaction

Anjul Rana, ManvikaSahgal and Bhavdish N Johri

10. Yeast genome sequencing: basic biology to biotechnology

Krishna Kant Sharma

11. Fungal differentiation: A model phenomenon to screen antifungal drugs

E. K. Pathan, S. G. Tupe and M.V. Deshpande

12. Candida albicans Biofilm as a Clinical Challenge

;

Ashwini Jadhav and Sankunny Mohan Karuppayil

13. Characteristics and multifarious potential applications of HAP phytase of the

unconventional yeast Pichia anomala

Swati Joshi and T. Satyanarayana

14. Fungal Inulinolytic Enzymes: A current appraisal

Hemant Kumar Rawat, Hemant Soni and Naveen Kango

15. Fungal Tannase: Recent advances and industrial applications

Sunny Dhiman,Anu Kumar, Gunjan Mukherjee, Papiya Mukherjee, Sunil Kumar Deshmukh &n

bsp;

16. Mycoremediation: an alternative treatment option for heavy metal bearing waste

water

TuhinaVerma, Annapurna Maurya, Satyendra Kumar Garg

17. Treatment of landfill leachate using fungi: An efficient and cost-effective strategy

Pooja Ghosh and Indu Shekhar Thakur

18. Studies on Mycorrhizae in Pinus gerardiana, a threatened pine of the NW Himalayas

Sunil Kumar, VaneetJishtu, J.S. Thakur and TN Lakhanpal

19. Role of phosphate solubilizing fungi in sustainable agriculture

Gurdeep Kaur and M. Sudhakara Reddy

20. Role of Fungicides in Crop Health Management: Prospects and Challenges

T.S. Thind

21. Bioherbicides: Strategies, Challenges and Prospects

K. R. Aneja, S. A. Khan and A. Aneja

22. Characterization of Lamellate Mushrooms - An Appra

isal

N. S. Atri, Munruchi Kaur and Samidha Sharma

23. Occurrence and distribution of mushrooms in semi - ever green Sal (Shorearobusta)

forest Chhattisgarh, Central - India. Kamlesh Shukla, R.V. Shukla

24. Fungal Pigments

Gunjan Mukherjee, Tulika Mishra, Sunil Kumar Deshmukh

25. Ex-situ Conservation of Fungi

Sanjay K. Singh

26. Camouflaged mycotoxins in some field crops and forages

SkarmaNonzom and Geeta Sumbali