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Increases in various fungal infections due to Candida, Aspergillus, Blastomyces, Histoplasma spp., and Dermatophytes have attracted interest in the biochemistry of the fungal pathogens responsible. This book discusses the importance of lipids in pathogenic fungi and how they are involved in infections that pose serious health problems. The role of lipids in dimorphism, adherence, and virulence of fungi is investigated as is their composition and metabolism. Several chapters are devoted to examinations of specific pathogenic fungi, which will be particularly useful to researchers studying the clinical manifestations of infections caused by these factors. Later chapters present possible antifungal agents and nonconventional agents that target the organisms discussed earlier. Collectively, the contributions to this volume provide an excellent overview of this field. This text is essential for practicing clinicians and for everyone involved in the important task of resolving the problems associated with fungal pathogenicity.

​Fungi produce many chemically diverse secondary metabolites whose biological roles largely remain elusive. Within the increasing number of sequenced fungal genomes several important genes involved in secondary metabolite formation have been identified. Most of these genes are clustered and their coordinated transcription is controlled in a complex way by both narrow pathway-specific regulators as well as broad global transcription factors responsive to environmental cues. In recent years it was discovered many of the newly identified gene clusters are silent under laboratory conditions suggesting that the biosynthetic potential of fungi is far from being exploited. Besides identifying novel bioactive metabolites from still unexplored sources, the activation of these gene clusters by several approaches may result in the discovery of new substances with antibiotic and pharmaceutical benefits. This book covers recent advances in the field of fungal secondary metabolisms ranging from methodologies to biological aspects and will include the latest knowledge on fungal molecular biology, genomics, and metabolomics. With the related volume by Professor Juan-Francisco Martin, where the most relevant and well-studied fungal secondary metabolites are compiled, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art of research on fungal secondary metabolites.

This volume describes the more relevant secondary metabolites of different fungi with current information on their biosynthesis and molecular genetics. Bolstered with color illustrations and photographs, the book describes the possible application of molecular genetics to directed strain improvement in great detail. The needs for future developments in this field are also discussed at lengthWritten by authorities in the field, Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites provides a cutting-edge perspective on fungal secondary metabolism and underlying genetics and is a valuable resource for scientists, researchers, and educators in the field of fungal biology.

Fungi occupy an important place in the natural world, as non-photosynthetic organisms, they obtain their nutrients from the degradation of organic material. They use many of their secondary metabolites to secure a place in a competitive natural environment and to protect themselves from predation. The diverse structures, biosyntheses and biological activities of fungal metabolites have attracted chemists for many years. Fungi are ubiquitous and their activities affect many aspects of our daily lives whether it be as sources of pharmaceuticals and food or as spoilage organisms and the causes of diseases in plants and man. The chemistry of the fungi involved in these activities has been the subject of considerable study particularly over the last fifty years. Although their ramifications can be large as in the spread of plant diseases, the quantities of the metabolites which could be isolated precluded much chemical work until the advent of spectroscopic methods. Whereas many natural products derived from plants were isolated prior to the 1960s on a scale which permitted extensive chemical degradation, this was rarely the case for fungal metabolites. This book is an introduction to the chemistry of fungal metabolites. The aim is to illustrate within the context of fungal metabolites, the historical progression from chemical to spectroscopic methods of structure elucidation, the development in biosynthetic studies from establishing sequences and mechanisms to chemical enzymology and genetics and the increasing understanding of the biological roles of natural products. The book begins with a historical introduction followed by a description of the general chemical features which contribute to the growth of fungi. There are many thousands of fungal metabolites whose structures are known and the book does not aim to list them all as there are databases to fulfill this role. The book's aim is to describe some of the more important metabolites classified according to their biosynthetic origin. Biosynthesis provides a unifying feature underlying the diverse structures of fungal metabolites and the chapters covering this area begin with a general outline of the relevant biosynthetic pathway before presenting a detailed description of particular metabolites. Investigations into these biosyntheses have utilized many subtle isotopic labelling experiments and compounds that are fungal pigments and those which are distinctive metabolites of the more conspicuous Basidiomycetes are treated separately. Many fungal metabolites are involved in the interactions of fungi with plants and others are toxic to man and some of these are described in further chapters. Fungi have the ability to transform chemicals in ways which can complement conventional reactions and the use of fungi as reagents forms the subject of the final chapter. This book will be particularly useful to anybody about to embark on a career in chemical microbiology by providing an overall perspective of fungal metabolites as well as an essential reference tool for more general chemists.

In response to low iron availability in the environment most microorganisms synthesize iron chelators, called siderophores. Bacteria and fungi produce a broad range of structurally diverse siderophores, which all show a very high affinity for ferric ions.'Microbial Siderophores'presents an up-to-date overview of the chemistry, biology and biotechnology of these iron chelators. Following an introduction to the structure, functions and regulation of fungal siderophores, several chapters focus on siderophores of pseudomonads. Here, the technique of siderotyping, which has proved to be a rapid, accurate and inexpensive tool for pseudomonad characterization and identification, is described. Further, the biological significance of siderophores of symbiotic fungi and the possible role of siderophores in pathogenesis are discussed. In addition to methodological approaches, chapters on the biotechnological production of siderophores and their application in promoting human and plant health are included.

This three-volume set is a desirable reference for a wide range of specialists who study secondary fungal metabolites ranging from pharmaceutical house researchers, agricultural researchers, those involved in food and feed control regulation, and veterinary researchers. It discusses in depth the molecular formula of, the molecular weights of, and fungal/plant source indexes of secondary fungal metabolites.• Includes all major groups of secondary fungal metabolites• Covers various methods used to isolate and purify metabolites are present • Each metabolite is supported by appropriate references • Secondary metabolite molecular formula, molecular weights and fungal/plant source indexes are included