Description
Book SynopsisFungi 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. The chemistry of the fungi involved in these activities has been the subject of considerable study particularly over the last fifty years. Although their ramifications can be large as in the spread of plant diseases, the quantities of the metabolites which could be isolated precluded much chemical work until the advent of spectroscopic methods. Whereas many natural pro
Trade Review"This will be a useful book for chemists contemplating a career in microbial chemistry as well as for medicinal chemists." * Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, vol 51 No 22 *
Table of ContentsChapter 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;
