The Chemistry of Fungi RSC [Hardcover]

This book is an introduction to the chemistry of fungal metabolites. The aim is to illustrate within the context of fungal metabolites, the historical progression from chemical to spectroscopic methods of structure elucidation, the development in biosynthetic studies from establishing sequences and mechanisms to chemical enzymology and genetics and the increasing understanding of the biological roles of natural products. There are separate chapters on laboratory methods for cultivating fungi, the role of fungal metabolites as phytotoxins and mycotoxins and the use of fungi in biotransformations. This book will be particularly useful to anybody about to embark on a career in chemical microbiology by providing an overall perspective of fungal metabolites as well as an essential reference tool for more general chemists.Chapter 1: Fungi and the development of microbiological chemistry; Chapter 2: The chemistry of growing fungi; Chapter 3: Fungal metabolites derived from amino acids; Chapter 4: Polyketides from fungi; Chapter 5: Terpenoid fungal metabolites; Chapter 6: Fungal metabolites derived from the citric acid cycle; Chapter 7: Pigments and odours of fungi; Chapter 8: The chemistry of some fungal diseases of plants; Chapter 9: Mycotoxins; Chapter 10: Fungi as reagents;This book introduces chemists to the range of structures of fungal metabolites.Fungi occupy an important place in the natural world, as non-photosynthetic organisms, they obtain their nutrients from the degradation of organic material. They use many of their secondary metabolites to secure a place in a competitive natural environment and to protect themselves from predation. The diverse structures, biosyntheses and biological activities of fungal metabolites have attracted chemists for many years. Fungi are ubiquitous and their activities affect many aspects of our daily lives whether it be as sources of pharmaceuticals and food or as spoilage organisms and the causes of diseases in plants and man. Thl“,