Endolichenic Fungi: Present and Future Trends

Book excerpt: This book draws the reader into the latest debate on fungal diversity and the concept of lichen symbiosis. Chapters of this book cohere around four general themes: endolichenic fungi, isolation and culture, identification and bioactive potential. This is a highly informative book providing scientific insight for scholars interested in lichens and fungi. This research intrigues readers with this fascinating and less known fungal community residing inside lichens and arouses curiosity among lichenologists and mycologists about these fungi and their potential. This treatise provokes debate on the definition of lichen and its compositional organisms and invites further investigations on this topic by adding to the scholarly debate with various new perspectives on endolichenic fungi in the last chapter. Not only this, it also clarifies the differences between endolichenic fungi, mycorrhiza and lichenicolous fungi and the fungi found freely in air, water and soil and contributes to the development of the new field of endolichenic fungi. This book supports readers to build their knowledge through helpful case studies conducted throughout the globe and plentiful figures and illustrations and chemical structures of the novel compounds harvested from endolichenic fungi. This book covers both classical and cutting-edge technologies in the field of endolichenic fungi and offers step-by-step procedures for isolation and identification of endolichenic fungi and further contributes in how one can harvest the secondary metabolites from endolichenic fungi. This book shares the knowledge of some highly experienced authorities in the field of lichenology, mycology and endolichenic fungi and offers a first stop for specialists who need information about particular aspects in the field of endolichenic fungi. This research will equip researchers, professors, professionals working in this field to understand lichens and its intricate internal ecosystem with a fresh perspective and also enables readers to explore further through annotated references to other works.