Editors Brown and Proctor, both active in the fields of mycology and foodborne pathogens, present a collection of essays on the fungal genus Fusarium. The first chapter provides an overview of the genus and its roles as a plant pathogen and a cause of human and animal disease. The main cause of the latter is the ability of these fungi to produce toxic and/or carcinogenic compounds which are then consumed with the infected plant. There is a chapter each on Fusarium reproduction and plant responses to its metabolites. Most of the middle section of the book is devoted to discussions of the genomes and proteomes of the fungi with coverage of genome structure, genomic and proteomic techniques used to study fungal/host interactions, and the repeat-induced point mutation system (RIP) which was the first system of genomic stabilization discovered in eukaryotes in the 1980s. There is also a chapter each on the nitrogen regulation network and the polyketide synthases which are responsible for the creation of the often toxic secondary metabolites produced in the genus. The book is well illustrated with b&w figures and there are two pages of color plates at the end. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation 2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
