Patterns in Fungal Development

Edited by Siu Wai Chiu & David Moore
Published in 1996 by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K. (xii+ 226 pages; ISBN 0 521 56047 0)

Pattern formation characterises creation of the 'body plan' or, more formally, the distribution of differentiated cells or tissues in developing organs or organisms. Pattern formation depends on positional information, which instructs competent cells to differentiate in ways characteristic of their position in the structure. Positional information not only is provided by the environmental trigger but also is usually understood to be imparted by the concentration of one or more morphogens emitted from spatially distinct organisers. The basic rules of pattern formation seem to be that regional specification (directed by organisers producing morphogens) occurs first, regulating gene activity in ways specifically geared to morphogenesis so that particular cells are first specified (a state which is still flexible) and then determined (a state which is inflexible) to their differentiated fates.

These statements seem applicable, in theory, to all multicellular organisms but they are derived largely from research on animal (and, to a lesser extent, plant) morphogenesis. The challenge taken up in this book is to establish whether evidence exists for such mechanisms in the development of fungal structures.

Following an introductory description of the prima facie case for similar events (and perhaps similar mechanisms) to those found in other eukaryotes being involved in establishing the patterns inside a fungal fruit body, the individual chapters of this book deal with the hyphal growth mechanism; patterning in the mycelium; the genetic control of hyphal morphogenesis; nuclear events in morphogenesis; experimental approaches to the study of pattern formation; the case for hormone/growth factor involvement in hyphal morphogenesis; as well as phylogenetic and ecological aspects of tissue distribution patterns in fungal fruit bodies.

ISBN: 0521560470; Binding: Hardback; Size: 235 x 157 mm; Pages: 238; Figures: 36 line diagrams, 27 half-tones, 20 tables

Chapter Contents

1. Inside the developing mushroom - cells, tissues and tissue patterns, D. Moore

2. A new model for hyphal tip extension and its application to differential fungal morphogenesis, B. Johnson, G. Calleja and B. Yoo

3. Pattern formation and development of the fungal mycelium, K. Klein

4. The genetics of morphogenesis in Neurospora crassa, P. Vierula

5. Nuclear changes during fungal development, Siu-Wai Chiu

6. Experimental approaches to the study of pattern formation in Coprinus cinereus, A. Bourne, Siu-Wai Chiu and D. Moore

7. Control of growth and patterning in the fungal fruiting structure - a case for the involvement of hormones, L. Novak-Fraser

8. Patterns in fungal development - fruiting patterns in nature, R. Watling

Index.

You can read some quotations from published reviews immediately below.

YOU CAN ORDER the book from Amazon and from Cambridge University Press.

Quotations from REVIEWS

“This is an important and stimulating little book.... fungal morphogenesis is so important and neglected and most of the book so stimulating that no mycological library should be without it and any young (or old!) mycologist looking for a neglected and exciting area in which to make a mark should read and act upon the ideas in this book.”
Sir John Burnett, reviewing Patterns in Fungal Development in the May 1997 issue of the Mycologist.

"...The book is concerned with the developmental processes that sculpt fungal structures ... a process of exquisite complexity ... Patterns in Fungal Development does offer some very readable chapters on diverse topics in fungal development that have not been extensively reviewed elsewhere...this book is a useful addition to the ... bookshelf of the mycologist specializing in physiology and development. Indeed, this is one of the few books on fungal development to have been published since ... 1985."
N. P. Money, reviewing Patterns in Fungal Development in the journal Bioscience.

"This book fills a need both for advanced students of mycology and for workers in the field of fungal morphogenesis. It is well produced with good illustrations and should be in every responsible botanical library."
N. F. Robertson, reviewing Patterns in Fungal Development in the journal Annals of Botany.

"... a good accessible book for advanced undergraduates and their seniors, which sets out an area of great opportunity in modern microbiology."
Chris Thurston, reviewing Patterns in Fungal Development in the journal The Biologist.

Back to top

Close the window to return to the previous page