Main description:

This handbook compiles authoritative information about fungal metabolites and their chemistry and biotechnology. The first in the reference work series "Phytochemicals", and written by a team of international expert authors, this book provides reference information ranging from the description of fungal natural products, over their use e.g. as anticancer agents, to microbial synthesis, even spanning to the production of secondary metabolites on industrial scale. On the other hand it also describes global health issues related to aflatoxin production in foods and agriculture, including perspectives for detoxification. The handbook characterizes different compound classes derived from fungal secondary metabolites, like ergot alkaloids and aflatoxins. The discussion puts a special emphasis on how potentially useful compounds can be obtained and what applications they can find, on the one hand, and how potential dangers can be encountered on the other hand. The comprehensive chapters in this handbook will thus appeal to readers from diverse backgrounds in chemistry, biology, life sciences, and even medicine, who are working or planning to work with fungal (secondary) metabolites and their application. They provide the readers with rich sources of reference information on important topics in this field.

Contents:

Biosynthesis of the ergot alkaloids.- Toward awakening cryptic secondary metabolite gene clusters in filamentous fungi.- Fungal secondary metabolites - strategies to activate silent gene clusters.- Phytotoxic secondary metabolites and peptides produced by plant pathogenic fungi.- Industrial production of bioactive plant secondary metabolites utilizing endophytes.- Microbial biosynthesis of medicinally important plant secondary metabolites..- Comprehensive annotation of secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes and gene clusters of Aspergillus.- Fungal secondary metabolites as modulators of interactions with insects and other arthropods.- Fungal metabolites with anticancer activity.- An ecological perspective of microbial secondary metabolism.- Peroxisomes in secondary metabolite biosynthesis in filamentous fungi.- Fungal natural products - the mushroom perspective.- Recent advances in awakening silent biosynthetic gene clusters and linking orphan clusters to natural products in microorganisms.- Ergot Alkaloids.- Ultraviolet irradiation detoxification of aflatoxins.- Global health issues of aflatoxins in food and agriculture: challenges and opportunities.- The occurrence of aflatoxin in rice worldwide.