Since publication of the first edition of Volume I in 1994, the field of fungal biology has developed tremendously, mainly through the advancement of various molecular techniques and international fungal genome projects. To accommodate these developments, the second edition has been completely updated. Six chapters have been revised by former authors, others by newly recruited experts, and also novel subjects, emerged in more recent years, have been added to the book.

Leading scientists in the field have compiled comprehensive overviews as well as latest results obtained from cytological, genetic and molecular studies. Topics include: cellular and colony growth of fungi, cellular fusion and incompatibility, senescence and programmed cell death, environmental and physiological signalling in differentiation processes, asexual and sexual reproduction, mitosis and meiosis of various types of fungi. Both parallels and differences become visible between individual fungi as well as between fungal classes.

Vegetative Processes and Growth

Morphogenesis: Control of Cell Types and Shape
Organelle Inheritance in Yeasts and Other Fungi
Mitosis in Filamentous Fungi
Apical Wall Biogenesis
The Fungal Cell Wall
Septation and Cytokinesis in Fungi
Re-Wiring the Network: Understanding the Mechanism and Function of Anastomosis in Filamentous Ascomycete Fungi
Heterogenic Incompatibility in Fungi
Programmed Cell Death in Fungi
Senescence and Longevity
Signals in Growth and Development
Autoregulatory Signals in Mycelial Fungi
Pheromone Action in the Fungal Groups Chytridiomycota, and Zygomycota, and in the Oomycota
Photomorphogenesis and Gravitropism in Fungi
Reproductive Processes
Asexual Sporulation in Mycelial Fungi
Mating-Type Structure, Evolution, and Function in Euascomycetes
Fruiting-Body Development in Ascomycetes
The Mating Type Genes of the Basidiomycetes
Regulatory and Structural Networks Orchestrating Mating, Dimorphism, Cell Shape, and Pathogenesis in Ustilago maydis
The Emergence of Fruiting Bodies in Basidiomycetes
Meiosis in Mycelial Fungi.