Growth, Differentiation and Sexuality

Since publication of the first edition of Volume I in 1994, the field of fungal biology has developed tremendously, mainly through the advancement of various molecular techniques and international fungal genome projects. To accommodate these developments, the second edition has been completely updated. Six chapters have been revised by former authors, others by newly recruited experts, and also novel subjects, emerged in more recent years, have been added to the book.

Leading scientists in the field have compiled comprehensive overviews as well as latest results obtained from cytological, genetic and molecular studies. Topics include: cellular and colony growth of fungi, cellular fusion and incompatibility, senescence and programmed cell death, environmental and physiological signalling in differentiation processes, asexual and sexual reproduction, mitosis and meiosis of various types of fungi. Both parallels and differences become visible between individual fungi as well as between fungal classes.

Vegetative Processes and Growth.- Morphogenesis: Control of Cell Types and Shape.- Organelle Inheritance in Yeasts and Other Fungi.- Mitosis in Filamentous Fungi.- Apical Wall Biogenesis.- The Fungal Cell Wall.- Septation and Cytokinesis in Fungi.- Re-Wiring the Network: Understanding the Mechanism and Function of Anastomosis in Filamentous Ascomycete Fungi.- Heterogenic Incompatibility in Fungi.- Programmed Cell Death in Fungi.- Senescence and Longevity.- Signals in Growth and Development.- Autoregulatory Signals in Mycelial Fungi.- Pheromone Action in the Fungal Groups Chytridiomycota, and Zygomycota, and in the Oomycota.- Photomorphogenesis and Gravitropism in Fungi.- Reproductive Processes.- Asexual Sporulation in Mycelial Fungi.- Mating-Type Structure, Evolution, and Function in Euascomycetes.- Fruiting-Body Development in Ascomycetes.- The Mating Type Genes of the Basidiomycetes.- Regulatory and Structural Networks Orchestrating Mating, Dimorphism, Cell Shape, and Pathogenesis in Ustilago maydis.- The Emergence of Fruiting Bodies in Basidiomycetes.- Meiosis in Mycelial Fungi.