The book incorporates in a comparative manner the various important classifications of fungi given by different workers. It deals with the morphology, taxonomy, life cycles of various groups of fungi and also includes the disease cycle and control measures of fungal pathogens, responsible for causing diseases of national as well as international importance. The book has been written to cater to the needs of Honours and Postgraduate students of Indian Universities. The aim of the book is to bring in all the recent information in fungi in one volume. General topics like heterothallism, parasexual cycle, sex hormones, evolutionary tendencies in lower fungi, evolution of conidium from a sporangium, sexuality in Ascomycetes with special reference to degeneration and modification of sex organs, phylogeny of fungi have been discussed at length. Important topics like ecology, economic importance of fungi in various ways, applications of fungi in Biotechnology and fungi as symbionts of photobionts, plants and insects has also been discussed in detail. Appendices like important text and reference books, mycoiogical journals, fungal culture collection centres of the world, mounting media and common culture media for fungi have been included.About the AuthorDr. R.S. Mehrotra is a Ph.D. from the University of Saugor (now Dr. Hari Singh Gour University). He retired as Professor of Botany, Kurukshetra University in the year 1997. He was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada (1968-1970) and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of California, Riverside, USA (1979). He has vast teaching and research experience of more than 35 years. Dr. Mehrotra and his research associates have done work on various aspects of Soil Microbiology (including root diseases), post-harvest diseases, toxins and enzymes involved in host pathogenesis and biological control of plant pathogens. He has published around 200 research papers in Indian and Foreign journals. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad, Fellow of the Indian Botanical Society, Fellow of the Indian Phytopathological Society and Fellow of the Indian Mycological Society. He was the President of Indian Phytopathological Society (1990), President of the Indian Society of Plant Pathologists (1992), President of the Mycological Society of India (1996), President of Botany Section of the Indian Science Congress (1997), and was the recipient of the Birbal Sahni Gold Medal of the Indian Botanical Society in the year 1998. Dr. Mehrotra has authored 4 books?An Introduction to Mycology with Prof. K.R. Aneja, published by Wiley Eastern, New Delhi; Plant Pathology co-authored with Prof. Ashok Aggarwal, published by Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited and a monograph entitled Phytophthora Diseases in India published by Bishen Singh and Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun; Principles of Microbiology co-authored with Prof. Geeta Sumbali, published by Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited, New Delhi. Dr. K.R. Aneja is a Professor and Chairman, Department of Microbiology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. He has a vast PG teaching and research experience of 36 years of which more than 9 years as a Chairman of the Department. As a researcher, Dr. Aneja has handled 6 major research projects sponsored by UGC, Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi and DFID, UK. He has guided several M.Phil and Ph.D. students and published over 135 research papers and reviews in International and National journals of repute and contributes regularly to magazines highlighting the importance of microbes to society. He is a reviewer of International and National journals. He is an active member of over 9 National and International Societies. He has attended many conferences, presented invited papers, and chaired technical sessions in some of them. In addition, he has also organized an International Conference in 1997. He is a recipient of INSA-Royal Society, Academic Exchange Fellowship and is a Fellow of four Societies: Indian Botanical Society, Indian Phytopathological Society, Indian Mycological Society and Society of Biocontrol Advancement. He was the Recorder of Plant Sciences Section of the Indian Science Congress (ISCA) (2008-2009). He is an awardee of Rashtriya Gaurav Award (2009) and Best Citizens of India Award (2010). Dr. Aneja has authored/edited five books entitled From Ethnomycology to Fungal Biotechnology (with J. Singh) published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, USA; Glimpses in Plant Sciences (with M.U. Charaya, Ashok Aggarwal, D.K. Hans, S.A. Khan) published by Pragati Prakashan, Meerut; An Introduction to Mycology (with R.S. Mehrotra) published by Wiley Eastern Ltd., New Delhi); Experiments in Microbiology, Plant Pathology and Biotechnology (now in 4th edition) and A Textbook of Basic and Applied Microbiology (with Pranay Jain and R. Aneja) published by New Age International Publishers, New Delhi.Table of ContentsKingdom Fungi-Introduction and Various Systems of Classification Historical Introduction to Mycology Division Myxomycota Subdivision Mastigomy-cotina (Zoosporic Fungi) Zygomycotina Lower Fungi-General Ascomycotina Subdivision-Basidiomycotina Subdivision-Denteromycotina Fungi-General Ecology, Economic, Importance and Fungal Biotechnology Fungi as Symbionts of Photobionts, Plants and Insects.