This volume of Applied Mycology and Biotechnology completes the set of two volumes dedicated to the coverage of recent developments on the theme "Agriculture and Food Production." The first volume provided overview on fungal physiology, metabolism, genetics and biotechnology and highlighted their connection with particular applications to food production. The second volume examines various specific applications of mycology and fungal biotechnology to food production and processing. In the second volume coverage on two remaining areas of the theme, food crop production and applications in the foods and beverages sector, is presented.
The interdisciplinary and complex nature of the subject area, combined with the need to consider the sustainability of agri-food practices, its economics and industrial perspectives, requires a certain focus and selectivity of subjects. In this context the recent literature contained in this work will help readers arrive at comprehensive, in depth information on the role of fungi in agricultural food and feed technology.
As a professional reference this book is targeted towards agri-food producer research establishments, government and academic units. Teachers and students, both in undergraduate and graduate studies, in departments of food science, food technology, food engineering, microbiology, applied molecular genetics and biotechnology will also find this work useful.

The purpose of this volume is to highlight wide-ranging applications of genomics in the area of applied mycology and biotechnology.
The volume covers: a brief overview on fungal genomics; meiotic recombination in fungi; molecular genetics of circadian rhythms; genome sequencing; transposable elements; mitochondrial genomes; ribosome biogenesis; pathogenicity genes; genetic improvement of yeasts; microarrays: techniques and applications; fungal germplasm and data bases. Although it is difficult to develop a comprehensive volume on fungal genomics because of the range and complexity of the emerging knowledge, an attempt has been made to bring together pertinent information that will serve the needs of the reader, provide a quick reference to material that might otherwise be difficult to locate, and furnish a starting point for further study.

The advances in genomic technologies, such as microarrays and high throughput sequencing,
have expanded the realm of possibilities for capturing data and analyzing it using automated
computer driven bioinformatics tools. With the completion of the sequencing of genomes of
human and several model organisms, a quest for scientific discoveries being fueled by
integrative and multidimensional techniques in mathematics and computational sciences. In
this volume, leading researchers and experts have provided an overview of significant
concepts from biological, mathematical, and computational perspectives. It provides a high level view of fungal genomic data integration and annotation, classification of proteins and identification of vaccine targets, identification of secretome or secreted proteins in fungal genomes, as well as tools for analyzing microarray expression
profiles.
* Provides a survey of theoretical underpinnings on the technological tools and applications
* Discusses the tools utilized for the annotation of fungal genomes and addresses issues related to automated annotation generation in a high throughput biotechnology environment
* describing the applications of the concepts and methodologies presented throughout the book

This latest volume addresses the contemporary issues related to recombination in filamentous fungi, EST data mining, fungal intervening sequences, gene silencing, DNA damage response in filamentous fungi, "cfp" genes of "Neurospora," developmental gene sequences, site-specific recombination, heterologous gene expression, hybridization and microarray technology to enumerate biomass. This volume also analyse the current knowledge in the area of hydrophobins and genetic regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis. Over fifty world renowned scientist from both industry and academics provided in-depth information in the field of fungal genes and genomics.

Research in the genomics of a handful of fungi has matured at an unprecedented rate allowing comprehensive review. Developments in fungal genomics should be of great significance to new strategies in fields where disciplinary crossovers of fungal genomics, genes and their regulation, expression, and engineering will have a strong impact in dealing with agriculture, foods, natural resources, life sciences, biotechnology, informatics, metabolomics, pharmaceuticals and bioactive compounds.
This volume analyzes the commonly used molecular markers systems, and elaborates the development of biochemical genetics, which provides a model system that established the relationship between genes and enzymes. Current knowledge about the genomic and genetic variability of Candida albicans, the polymorphic fungus that is an opportunistic human pathogen of increasing medical importance, has been covered in detail. Current understanding of the genetics and functional genomic analysis of the most important fungal pathogens of staple food crops, rice and wheat among others is covered including chapters dealing with the genomics of economically important fungi such asMagnaporthe grisea, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Rhizoctonia, Mycosphaerella graminicola, and entomopathogenic fungi. With several thousand recent citations, it is hoped that volume four will serve as a useful reference for knowledgeable veterans and beginners as well as those crossing disciplinary boundaries into the exciting field of biotechnology, genomics and bioinformatics of fungi.

Contributions from 80 world-renowned authorities representing a broad international background lend Fungal Biotechnology in Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Applicationsfirst-class information on the biotechnological potential of entomopathogenic fungi and ergot alkaloids, applications of "Trichoderma" in disease control, and the development of mycoherbicides. Additional topics include fungal control of nematodes, control of plant disease by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, strategies for controlling vegetable and fruit crops, molecular biology tactics with mycotoxigenic fungi and the development of biofungicides, production of edible fungi, fermented foods, and high-value products like mycoprotein.