PatternsinFungalDevelopment

Thetheoryofpatternformation,assumedtobeapplicabletoallmulticellularorganisms,hasbeendevelopedlargelythroughthestudyofanimal,andtoalesserextent,plantsystems.Fungi,membersofthethirdmajorkingdomofeukaryotes,havenotfeaturedinthesestudies,althoughmuchresearchoffungalmorphologyhasbeenundertakenwithtaxonomicintentions.Thisfirstaccountofthedevelopmentalbiologyoffungalmorphogenesisconsiderswhetherevidenceexistsfortheactionofpatternformingmechanismsinthedevelopmentoffungalstructures.Chaptersonthefruitbody,onarangeofaspectsofthehyphaeandthemycelium,andongeneticcontrolandnucleareventsinmorphogenesisprovideinsightsintothemechanismsusedinfungalconstruction.Aimedatdevelopmentalbiologistsaswellasmycologists,theterminologyhasbeenkeptassimpleaspossibletomakethevolumeaccessibletothewidestaudience.