The main topics covered in this Microbiology Monograph are: comparative genomics; mitochondrial genomics and proteomics, including the analysis of the respiratory chain; transposable elements and their activities; non-coding RNA genes, which display a number of unusual and remarkable features compared to other hemiascomycetes; utilization of hydrophobic substrates, of n-alkane and its oxidized derivatives as sources of carbon and energy; ambient pH signalling; comparison of protein families in non-conventional yeasts and S. cerevisiae; and the sulphur metabolism of cheese-ripening yeast.