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Fungi are an essential, fascinating and biotechnologically useful group of organisms with an incredible biotechnological potential for industrial exploitation. Knowledge of the world's fungal diversity and its use is still incomplete and fragmented. There are many opportunities to accelerate the process of filling knowledge gaps in these areas. The worldwide interest of the current era is to increase the tendency to use natural substances instead of synthetic ones. The increasing urge in society for natural ingredients has compelled biotechnologists to explore novel bioresources which can be exploited in industrial sector. Fungi, due to their unique attributes and broad range of their biological activities hold great promises for their application in biotechnology and industry. Fungi are an efficient source of antioxidants, enzymes, pigments, and many other secondary metabolites. The large scale production of fungal pigments and their utility provides natural coloration without creating harmful effects on entering the environment, a safer alternative use to synthetic colorants. The fungal enzymes can be exploited in wide range of industries such as food, detergent, paper, and also for removal toxic waste. This book will serve as valuable source of information as well as will provide new directions to researchers to conduct novel research in field of mycology.Volume 2 of “Industrially Important Fungi for Sustainable Development” provides an overview to understanding bioprospecting of fungal biomolecules and their industrial application for future sustainability. It encompasses current advanced knowledge of fungal communities and their potential biotechnological applications in industry and allied sectors. The book will be useful to scientists, researchers, and students of microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, and environmental biology.

Over the last decades, scientists have been intrigued by the fascinating organisms that inhabit extreme environments. These organisms, known as extremophiles, thrive in habitats which for other terrestrial life-forms are intolerably hostile or even lethal. Based on such technological advances, the study of extremophiles has provided, over the last few years, ground-breaking discoveries that challenge the paradigms of modern biology. In the new bioeconomy, fungi in general, play a very important role in addressing major global challenges, being instrumental for improved resource efficiency, making renewable substitutes for products from fossil resources, upgrading waste streams to valuable food and feed ingredients, counteracting life-style diseases and antibiotic resistance through strengthening the gut biota, making crop plants more robust to survive climate change conditions, and functioning as host organisms for production of new biological drugs. This range ofnew uses of fungi all stand on the shoulders of the efforts of mycologists over generations. The book is organized in five parts: (I) Biodiversity, Ecology, Genetics and Physiology of Extremophilic Fungi, (II) Biosynthesis of Novel Biomolecules and Extremozymes (III) Bioenergy and Biofuel synthesis, and (IV) Wastewater and biosolids treatment, and (V) Bioremediation.

The new field of applied genetic research, genetic toxicology and mutation research investigates the muta- genicity and cancerogenicity of chemicals and other agents. Permanent changes in genes and chromosomes, or genome mutations, can be induced by a plethora of agents, including ionizing and nonionizing radiations, chemicals, and viruses. Mutagenesis research has two aims: (1) to understand the molecular mechanisms leading to mutations, and (2) to prevent a thoughtless introduction of mutagenic agents into our environment. Both aspects, namely, basic and applied, will be treated in the new series Advances in Mutagenesis Research.

The toxicology of metals has been concerned in the past with effects that produced clinical signs and symptoms. However, this view of metal toxicology has expanded in recent years due principally to two advances. There has been a considerable increase in our knowledge of the biochemical effects of metals. In addition, biomarkers of toxicity can now be recognized that identify toxicity at levels of exposure that do not produce overt clinical effects. Thus, the toxicology of metals is now focused on nonclinical events that reflect adverse health effects. This new awareness has produced the challenge of determining the lowest adverse level of exposure. With increasing analytical sensitivity and methodologies to detect small changes at the molecular level, the lowest level of exposure of some toxic metals, like lead, is very small. Indeed, for metals in which there is no biologic requirement, it may be questioned whether there is a level of exposure that does not produce some degree of toxicity. For essential metals, the question is being asked as to the levels at which exposure exceeds biologic require­ ments and excess exposure becomes toxic. The appropriateness of health decisions and the formation of public policy are dependent on the availability of current scientific information that addresses these questions. The information in this volume is intended to be a resource for this purpose as well as a reference for students of toxicology and other health professionals.