Fungal Pathogenicity

This detailed volume presents timely and authoritative content offering a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in fungal diagnostics. Moreover, it addresses on-going developments expected to provide a basis for targeted treatment strategies resulting in improved outcome of invasive mycoses. The knowledge of host-related predisposing factors and stratified treatment options facilitating timely onset of adequate antifungal therapy are critical for successful clinical management and outcome of invasive fungal disease (IFD), requiring not only rapid diagnosis of a fungal infection and identification of the causative species, but also assessment of pathogen/host factors related to pathogenicity, susceptibility, and response to treatment. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Human Fungal Pathogen Identification: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal reference for researchers investigating the ever-growing worldwide healthcare problems involving fungal infections.

Stresses molecular and biochemical studies of opportunistic and frank fungal pathogens! This book gives a comprehensive overview of human pathogenic fungi that offers a current and concise survey of virulence factors, host responses and recognition, treatment and diagnosis of infections, invasive enzymes, intracellular survival, morphogenesis, adaptation, and properties of major fungal pathogens that contribute to disease. Focuses on human fungal infections, including candidiasis, pneumocystosis, aspergillosis, and cryptococcosis. With over 3700 references to accommodate continuing study, Fungal Pathogenesis covers natural and acquired immunity, vaccine development, and immune reconstitution outlines rapid identification of major mycoses utilizing antigen capture and molecular assays details signaling and phenotypic switching discusses the value of genomics in validation highlights state-of-the-art molecular methodologies to study disease-causing organisms describes available and potential antifungal drug targets and drug development considers predicting the consequences of drug resistance on patient management presents topical observations on strain typing and variation and more! Containing research into the virulence, immunity, diagnosis, and therapy of most common fungal infections, Fungal Pathogenesis is an unparalleled reference for microbiologists, virologists, pathologists and phytopathologists, infectious disease specialists, molecular and cell biologists, biochemists, immunologists, medical mycologists, biotechnologists, and geneticists, and an exceptional text for upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and medical school students in these disciplines.

Since the first edition of Identification of Pathogenic Fungi, there has been incredible progress in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of fungal diseases: new methods of diagnosis have been introduced, and new antifungal agents have been licensed for use. However, these developments have been offset by the emergence of resistance to several classes of drugs, and an increase in infections caused by fungi with innate resistance to one or more classes. Identification of Pathogenic Fungi, Second Edition, assists in the identification of over 100 of the most significant organisms of medical importance. Each chapter is arranged so that the descriptions for similar organisms may be found on adjacent pages. Differential diagnosis details are given for each organism on the basis of both colonial appearance and microscopic characteristics for the organisms described. In this fully updated second edition, a new chapter on the identification of fungi in histopathological sections and smears has been added, while colour illustrations of cultures and microscopic structures have been included, and high quality, four colour digital images are incorporated throughout.

This book is specially written for researchers at various levels, for example, in forestry, agriculture, industry, university and college laboratories. It describes the fungal pathogenicity; resistance behavior of fungal biofilms and its mechanisms; different categories of fungal infection and colonization patterns with example relevant to soybean; characteristics of white rob of corncob and head smut of maize such as cycle, pathogenicity factors, control methods, the abilities of chitosan and its derivatives to elicit resistance reactions in plants and its action in the production and viability of fungal spores; and the mode of actions of single constituents of different essential oils depending on different case studies. In addition, this book also describes the importance of synthetic peptides as an alternative tool for the diagnosis of cryptococcosis. Finally, a survey of fungal diseases occurring on trees of Namibia is described. This survey is the first dedicated step to find ways of protecting them from disease-causing agents.

Fungal Pathogenicity and the Plants Response covers the proceedings of the Third Long Ashton Symposium held at Long Ashton Research Station University of Bristol on September 22-24, 1971. Topics for this biennial symposium are decided for their importance to Agriculture and Horticulture and for the timeliness of a critical review of developments in fungal pathogenicity and plants response. Composed of five sections, this book discusses the direct involvement of fungal proteins in fungal pathogenicity, the role of extracellular enzymes in fruit rotting, and the control of vertical distribution of apple scab disease. It then examines the role of ethylene in plant diseases, growth of obligate parasites, and the concepts of host-pathogen relations. It also focuses on plants induced and preformed resistance factors, including phaseollin, phytoalexin, and benzoic acid. The concluding section discusses the significant role of enzymes, particularly lysosomal enzymes, in fungal pathogenicity. With a strong focus on original data and speculative comment on host-parasite contact, this book will be helpful for research workers, teachers, and students who wish to broaden their knowledge in fungal pathogenicity.

Infectious fungal diseases continue to take their toll in terms of human suffering and enormous economic losses. Invasive infections by opportunistic fungal pathogens are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immuno-compromised individuals. At the same time, plant pathogenic fungi have devastating effects on crop production and human health. New strategies for antifungal control are required to meet the challenges posed by these agents, and such approaches can only be developed through the identification of novel biochemical and molecular targets. However, in contrast to bacterial pathogens, fungi display a wealth of “lifestyles” and modes of infection. This diversity makes it extremely difficult to identify individual, evolutionarily conserved virulence determinants and represents a major stumbling block in the search for common antifungal targets. In order to activate the infection programme, all fungal pathogens must undergo appropriate developmental transitions that involve cellular differentiation and the introduction of a new morphogenetic programme. How growth, cell cycle progression and morphogenesis are co-ordinately regulated during development has been an active area of research in fungal model systems such as budding and fission yeast. By contrast, we have only limited knowledge of how these developmental processes shape fungal pathogenicity, or of the role of the cell cycle and morphogenesis regulators as true virulence factors. This book combines state-of-the-art expertise from diverse pathogen model systems to update our current understanding of the regulation of fungal morphogenesis as a key determinant of pathogenicity in fungi.

Exploring breakthroughs in fungal detection and control, this book covers fungal nomenclature, population instability, and phylogeny, as well as investigative research on Peronosporomycetes, Zygomycetes, Filamentous Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetous Yeasts, Endomycetes and Blastomycetes, and Miscellaneous Opportunistic Fungi. It offers methods to identi

Dramatic progress in molecular biology and genetic engineering has recently produced an unparalleled wealth of information on the mechanisms of plant and pathogen interactions at the cellular and molecular levels. Completely revised and expanded, Fungal Pathogenesis in Plants and Crops: Molecular Biology and Host Defense Mechanisms, Second Edition offers fresh insight into the interplay of signaling systems in plant and pathogen interactions. The book delineates the battle between plant and fungal pathogen and the complex signaling systems involved. See what's new in the Second Edition: Chapter on the role of disease resistance genes in signal perception and emission Chapter on cell death signaling in disease susceptibility and resistance Revised material on phytoalexins, toxins, and signal perception and transduction in fungal pathogenesis 17 additional families of pathogenesis-related proteins and antifungal proteins The book describes the weapons used by fungal pathogens to evade or suppress the host defense mechanisms. It covers each fungal infection process from initial contact and penetration to the subsequent invasion and symptom development. The author explains complex signaling systems in the plant-pathogen interface with flow charts and provides drawings elucidating the biosynthetic pathway of secondary metabolites. He includes figures that highlight cutting-edge breakthroughs in molecular science and tables documenting important findings in the field of molecular plant pathology. These features and more make this book not only the most up to date resource in the field, but also the most important.