Biotechnology of Fungi for Improving Plant Growth

Hardback  ISBN 052138236X      £65.00

Based on a British Mycological Society symposium held in September 1988, this book reviews the many ways in which fungi are being used to improve plant growth and examines the reasons for the rapid advancement in their commercialisation. Reflecting the increasing interest in biocontrol, a significant proportion of the book considers fungi as biocontrol agents, examining their specific use in the control of weeds, parasitic insects and nematodes, and plant pathogenic fungi, as well as covering more general commercial and environmental aspects. Relevant techniques in molecular biology are described and their possible application in this area examined. Chapters on the use of mutualistically symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi for the improvement of plant growth are also included within the overall contents, the chapter headings of which are as follows:

• The use of specific ectomycorrhizas to improve artificial forestation practices
• The cultivation of ectomycorrhizal fungi
• Potentialities and procedures for the use of endomycorrhizas with special emphasis on high value crops
• The use of fungi to control pests of agricultural and horticultural importance
• Mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis in insects
• Improvement of fungi to enhance mycoherbicide potential
• Fungi as biological control agents for plant parasitic nematodes
• Selection, production, formulation and commercial use of plant disease biocontrol fungi: problems and progress
• Mechanisms of biological disease control with special reference to the case study of Pythium oligandrum as an antagonist
• Some perspectives on the application of molecular approaches to biocontrol problems
• Protoplast technology and strain selection
• Commercial approaches to the use of biological control agents
• The environmental challenge to biological control of plant pathogens

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Cambridge University Press : beneficial microorganisms : beneficials : biological control : biotechnology : crop protection : crops : disease control : integrated crop protection : microbiology : molecular biology : mycology : nematology : pest control : plant nutrition : plant pathology : plant science : symbiosis : weed science