Symbiotic Propagation of South American Orchids

Abstract

Fungal biology has an integral role to play in the development of the biotechnologyand biomedical sectors. It has become a subject of increasing importance as newfungi and their associated biomolecules are identifed. The interaction betweenfungi and their environment is central to many natural processes that occur in thebiosphere. The hosts and habitats of these eukaryotic microorganisms are verydiverse; fungi are present in every ecosystem on Earth. The fungal kingdom isequally diverse, consisting of seven different known phyla. Yet detailed knowledgeis limited to relatively few species. The relationship between fungi and humans hasbeen characterized by the juxtaposed viewpoints of fungi as infectious agents ofmuch dread and their exploitation as highly versatile systems for a range ofeconomically important biotechnological applications. Understanding the biologyof different fungi in diverse ecosystems as well as their interactions with living andnon-living is essential to underpin effective and innovative technologicaldevelopments. This series will provide a detailed compendium of methods andinformation used to investigate different aspects of mycology, including fungalbiology and biochemistry, genetics, phylogenetics, genomics, proteomics, molecularenzymology, and biotechnological applications in a manner that refects the manyrecent developments of relevance to researchers and scientists investigating theKingdom Fungi. Rapid screening techniques based on screening specifc regions inthe DNA of fungi have been used in species comparison and identifcation, and arenow being extended across fungal phyla. The majorities of fungi are multicellulareukaryotic systems and therefore may be excellent model systems by which toanswer fundamental biological questions. A greater understanding of the cellbiology of these versatile eukaryotes will underpin efforts to engineer certain fungalspecies to provide novel cell factories for production of proteins for pharmaceuticalapplications. Renewed interest in all aspects of the biology and biotechnology offungi may also enable the development of ?one pot? microbial cell factories to meetconsumer energy needs in the 21st century. To realize this potential and to trulyunderstand the diversity and biology of these eukaryotes, continued development ofscientifc tools and techniques is essential. As a professional reference, this serieswill be very helpful to all people who work with fungi and should be useful both toacademic institutions and research teams, as well as to teachers, and graduate andpostgraduate students with its information on the continuous developments infungal biology with the publication of each volume.