Fungi in the Environment

This multi-disciplinary volume, written by leading international experts, gives a timely review of modern environmental mycology.

Geoffrey Gadd (Edited by), Sarah C. Watkinson (Edited by), Paul S. Dyer (Edited by)

9780521850292, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 April 2007

408 pages, 90 b/w illus. 10 tables
23.4 x 15.7 x 2.5 cm, 0.785 kg

Fungi are of fundamental importance in the terrestrial environment. They have roles as decomposers, plant pathogens, symbionts, and in elemental cycles. Fungi are often dominant, and in soil can comprise the largest pool of biomass (including other microorganisms and invertebrates). They also play a role in maintenance of soil structure due to their filamentous growth habit and exopolymer production. Despite their important roles in the biosphere, fungi are frequently neglected within broader environmental and microbiological spheres. Additionally, mycological interests can be somewhat fragmented between traditional subject boundaries. This multi-disciplinary volume explores the roles and importance of fungi in the environment. Particular emphasis is given to major research advances made in recent years as a result of molecular and genomic approaches, and in cell imaging and biology. Drawing together microbiologists, mycologists, and environmental scientists, this work is a unique account of modern environmental mycology, and a pivotal contribution to the field.

1. Imaging complex nutrient dynamics in mycelial networks D. P. Bebber, M. Tlalka, J. Hynes, P. R. Darrah, A. Ashford, S. C. Watkinson, L. Boddy and M. D. Fricker
2. Natural history of the fungal hypha: how Woronin bodies support a multicellular lifestyle Gregory Jedd
3. Environmental sensing and the filamentous fungal lifestyle Nick D. Read
4. Mineral transformations and biogeochemical cycles: a gomycological perspective Geoffrey M. Gadd, Euan P. Burford, Marina Fomina and Karrie Melville
5. Mycelial responses in heterogeneous environments: parallels with macroorganisms Lynne Boddy and T. Hefin Jones
6. Natural abundance of 15N and 13C in saprotrophic fungi: what can they tell us? Andy F. S. Taylor and Petra M. A. Fransson
7. Berkeley Award Lecture: mathematical modelling of the form and function of fungal mycelia Fordyce A. Davidson
8. Mycorrhizas and the terrestrial carbon cycle: roles in global carbon sequestration and plant community composition Jonathan R. Leake
9. Water relations in lichens Rosmarie Honegger
10. Development of the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis: insights from genomics Jinyuan Liu, Melina Lopez-Meyer, Ignacio Maldonado-Mendoza and Maria J. Harrison
11. Functional genomics of plant infection by the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea Joanna M. Jenkinson, Richard Wilson, Zachary Cartwright, Darren M. Soanes, Michael J. Kershaw, Amy E. Davies and Nicholas J. Talbot
12. Exploring the interaction between nematode-trapping fungi and nematodes using DNA microarrays Anders Tunlid
13. Role of (1-3) glucan in Aspergillus fumigatus and other human fungal pathogens Anne Beauvais, David S. Perlin and Jean Paul Latgé
14. Plagues upon houses and cars: the unnatural history of Meruliporia incrassata, Serpula lacrymans, and Sphaerobolus stellatus Nicholas P. Money
15. Fungal species: thoughts on their recognition, maintenance and selection John W. Taylor, Elizabeth Turner, Anne Pringle, Jeremy Dettman, and Hanna Johannesson
16. Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) and Multilocus Microsatellite Typing (MLMT) in fungi Matthew C. Fisher
17. Fungi in the hidden environment: the gut of beetles Meredith Blackwell, Sung-Oui Suh and James B. Nardi
18. A saltmarsh decomposition system and its ascomycetous laccase genes Steven Y. Newell, Justine I. Lyons and Mary Ann Moran.

Subject Areas: Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], Conservation of the environment [RNK], Mycology, fungi [non-medical PSQ], Ecological science, the Biosphere [PSAF]