Based on sequence analyses of many different genes, the past decade has provided us with a profound knowledge of fungal systematics and phylogeny. In addition, a number of sequences of complete fungal genomes have been identified and several others will soon follow. In this volume, leading experts address questions concerning the origin of the fungal kingdom and fungal evolution at a level of analytical refinement that has never been possible before. The following major aspects are highlighted: evolutionary roots of fungi; evolution of signaling in fungi and fungal-like organisms; evolution of mutualistic systems and metabolism in fungi; and evolutionary mechanisms and trends.

The Protistan Origins of Animals and Fungi

Microsporidia -- Highly Reduced and Derived Relatives of Fungi
Environmental DNA Analysis and the Expansion of the Fungal Tree of Life
Evolution of Signalling and Morphogenesis in the Dictyostelids
Function and Evolution of Pheromones and Pheromone Receptors in Filamentous Ascomycetes
Mating Type in Basidiomycetes: Unipolar, Bipolar, and Tetrapolar Patterns of Sexuality
Evolution of the 'Plant-Symbiotic' Fungal Phylum, Glomeromycota
Fruiting Body Evolution in the Ascomycota: a Molecular Perspective Integrating Lichenized and Non-Lichenized Groups
Genomic and Comparative Analysis of the Class Dothideomycetes
Evolution of Genes for Secondary Metabolism in Fungi
Carbonic Anhydrases in Fungi and Fungal-Like Organisms -- Functional Distribution and Evolution of a Gene Family
Evolution of Mating-Type Loci and Mating-Type Chromosomes in Model Species of Filamentous Ascomycetes
Evolution of Special Metabolism in Fungi: Concepts, Mechanisms, and Pathways.