The fungi have become favored organisms for research at the cellular and molecular level. Such research involvement has been stimulated by interest in the biotechnological application of fungi in processes related to industry, agriculture and ecology.This is the third of eight volumes. It presents current insight into major topics of fungal cell biology and biochemistry, as explored by techniques of molecular biology and genetics. These topics include genetic and metabolic regulatory circuits, signal transduction pathways, protein import and localization, polyamine synthesis and function, chitin biosynthesis, heat shock and stress responses, fungal chromosome structure and replication, RNA polymerases and transcription factors, carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.