Synopses & Reviews
This book surveys recent advances in the biochemistry of cell walls and membranes in yeasts and filamentous fungi. While the main emphasis is on biogenesis, functional aspects are also discussed e.g. the role of glycoproteins in recognition, of sterols in membranes and of calcium in regulation. Several contributions describe the interference with the normal biochemistry of cell walls and membranes with a view to increasing fundamental knowledge, but also highly relevant to the design of novel fungicides and antimycotics. The steadily increasing impact of molecular biology on the study of fungal biochemistry is highlighted throughout. Readers will benefit from an up-to-date account of developments presented by internationally acknowledged experts. The book will be invaluable to biochemists and physiologists working with fungi.
Synopsis
Despite the many advances made during the last decade in various aspects of fungal biochemistry, there have been very few volumes devoted to the sub- ject in recent years. This lack is all the more surprising in view of the increas- ing use of fungi in gene manipulation studies and in biotechnological ap- plications, and of the current interest in the biorational discovery of novel agents for the control of fungal pathogens of plants and humans. We hope that this book goes some way to rectifying this situation by providing an up- to-date account of selected developments in two important areas, namely cell walls and membranes. Topics included in the book concern both yeasts and filamentous fungi. Although the main emphasis is on biogenesis, functional aspects are also discussed, e.g. the role of glycoproteins in recognition of sterols in mem- branes and of calcium in regulation. Several contributions describe in- terference with the 'normal' biochemistry of cell walls and membranes with a view to increasing fundamental knowledge, but also highly relevant to the design of new fungicides and antimycotics. The steadily increasing impact of molecular biology on the study of fungal biochemistry is highlighted throughout.