Since publication of the first edition of Volume I in 1994, the field of fungal biology has developed tremendously, mainly through the advancement of various molecular techniques and international fungal genome projects. To accommodate these developments, the second edition has been completely updated. Six chapters have been revised by former authors, others by newly recruited experts, and also novel subjects, emerged in more recent years, have been added to the book. Leading scientists in the field have compiled comprehensive overviews as well as latest results obtained from cytological, genetic and molecular studies. Topics include: cellular and colony growth of fungi, cellular fusion and incompatibility, senescence and programmed cell death, environmental and physiological signalling in differentiation processes, asexual and sexual reproduction, mitosis and meiosis of various types of fungi. Both parallels and differences become visible between individual fungi as well as between fungal classes.