Ophiocordyceps

Last updated

Ophiocordyceps
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.png
Dead ants infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Ophiocordycipitaceae
Genus: Ophiocordyceps
Petch (1931)
Type species
Ophiocordyceps blattae
(Petch) Petch (1931)
Synonyms [1]

CordycepioideusStifler (1941)

Ophiocordyceps is a genus of fungi within the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. [2] The widespread genus, first described scientifically by British mycologist Tom Petch in 1931, [3] contains about 140 species that grow on insects. [4] Anamorphic genera that correspond with Ophiocordyceps species are Hirsutella , Hymenostilbe , Isaria , Paraisaria , and Syngliocladium . [5]

Contents

One species complex, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis , is known for its parasitism on ants, in which it alters the behavior of the ants in such a way as to propagate itself more effectively, killing the ant and then growing its fruiting bodies from the ant's head and releasing its spores. [6] [7] [8] To accomplish this, infected ants are stripped of their instinctive fear of heights, and leaving the relative safety of their nests, climb up the nearest plant—a syndrome known as "summit disease". [9] The ant clamps it jaws around the plant in a "death grip" and following, mycelia grow from the ant's feet and stitch them to the surface of the plant. [9] The spores released from the ant carcass fall to the ground and infect other ants that come in contact with the spores so that this cycle continues. [10] Areas with high densities of ants that have this fungus growing out of them are known as graveyards. [11]

A 48-million-year-old fossil of an ant in the death-grip of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis was discovered in Germany. [12]

Sources and uses

Ophiocordyceps sinensis is a species that infects the larvae of Tibetan ghost moths, and is used extensively in traditional Chinese medicine. [13] [14] [15] There is currently no scientific evidence that use of this species has any clinically detectable effect on human diseases. [14]

Species

Reference: [16]

Simply referred to as "cordyceps", an unspecified species in this genus is the cause of a worldwide pandemic and the zombie-like "infected" in the 2013 video game The Last of Us and the 2023 television adaptation.

In the 2014 novel The Girl with All the Gifts and its 2016 film adaptation, a mutation of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is responsible for an infection that causes the collapse of civilization.

In the 2022 comic-book series Poison Ivy written by G. Willow Wilson, the titular character makes use of a fictitious species belonging to this genus.

The Pokémon Paras and Parasect are based on insects parasitized by Ophiocordyceps.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parasitoid</span> Organism that lives with its host and kills it

In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionary strategies within parasitism, distinguished by the fatal prognosis for the host, which makes the strategy close to predation.

<i>Ophiocordyceps sinensis</i> Species of fungus

Ophiocordyceps sinensis, known colloquially as caterpillar fungus, is an entomopathogenic fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is mainly found in the meadows above 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau in Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Bhutan, India, and Nepal. It parasitizes larvae of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body which is valued in traditional Chinese medicine as an aphrodisiac. Caterpillar fungus contains the compound cordycepin, an adenosine derivative. However, the fruiting bodies harvested in nature usually contain high amounts of arsenic and other heavy metals, so they are potentially toxic and sales have been strictly regulated by China's State Administration for Market Regulation since 2016.

<i>Cordyceps</i> Genus of fungi

Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi that includes about 600 worldwide species. Diverse variants of cordyceps have had more than 1,500 years of use in Chinese medicine. Most Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods ; a few are parasitic on other fungi.

Metarhizium robertsii is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a parasitoid. It is a mitosporic fungus with asexual reproduction, which was formerly classified in the form class Hyphomycetes of the phylum Deuteromycota.

Hyphomycetes are a form classification of fungi, part of what has often been referred to as fungi imperfecti, Deuteromycota, or anamorphic fungi. Hyphomycetes lack closed fruit bodies, and are often referred to as moulds. Most hyphomycetes are now assigned to the Ascomycota, on the basis of genetic connections made by life-cycle studies or by phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences; many remain unassigned phylogenetically.

<i>Ophiocordyceps unilateralis</i> Species of fungus

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as zombie-ant fungus, is an insect-pathogenic fungus, discovered by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859, and currently found predominantly in tropical forest ecosystems. O. unilateralis infects ants of the tribe Camponotini, with the full pathogenesis being characterized by alteration of the behavioral patterns of the infected ant. Infected hosts leave their canopy nests and foraging trails for the forest floor, an area with a temperature and humidity suitable for fungal growth; they then use their mandibles to attach themselves to a major vein on the underside of a leaf, where the host remains after its eventual death. The process, leading up to mortality, takes 4–10 days, and includes a reproductive stage where fruiting bodies grow from the ant's head, rupturing to release the fungus's spores. O. unilateralis is, in turn, also susceptible to fungal infection itself, an occurrence that can limit its impact on ant populations, which has otherwise been known to devastate ant colonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ophiocordycipitaceae</span> Family of fungi

Ophiocordycipitaceae is a family of parasitic fungi in the phylum Ascomycota, class Sordariomycetes. It was updated in 2020.

<i>Isaria sinclairii</i> Species of fungus

Isaria sinclairii is a species of entomopathogenic fungus mostly infecting the underground nymphs of cicadas. It produces myriocin, from which the synthetic drug fingolimod, a treatment for multiple sclerosis, was developed.

Syngliocladium is a genus of anamorphic fungi within the Ophiocordycipitaceae family. Members are anamorph names of Ophiocordyceps.

<i>Tolypocladium</i> Genus of fungi

Tolypocladium is a genus of fungi within the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It includes species that are parasites of other fungi, insect pathogens, rotifer pathogens and soil inhabiting species with uncertain ecological roles.

Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts of the order Hymenoptera, primarily ants. It was first isolated from Viçosa, Minas Gerais, on Camponotus balzani. This species was formerly thought to be Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which has subsequently been divided into four species. O. camponoti-balzani infects ants, and eventually kills the hosts after they move to an ideal location for the fungus to spread its spores. This has earned the species names such as “zombie fungus”, given the fungus has been observed to cause its hosts to bite hard into the substrate it stands on, so that the fungus can then stably grow.

Thitarodes caligophilus is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is found in Bhutan. It is a host of the entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis, a species of the genus Cordyceps. The fruiting bodies of Ophiocordyceps sinensis are used extensively in Traditional Chinese medicine. As a result, T. caligophilus-sourced Cordyceps harvested in Bhutan have become "widely used".

Ophiocordyceps myrmecophila, commonly known as the ant fungus or ant eater, is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera.

<i>Cordyceps militaris</i> Species of fungus

Cordyceps militaris, commonly known as the caterpillar fungus, is a species of fungus in the family Cordycipitaceae, and the type species of the genus Cordyceps, which consists of hundreds of species. The species was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Clavaria militaris. Cordyceps militaris parasitizes insects and is used in traditional Chinese medicine and modern pharmaceuticals.

Ophiocordyceps camponoti-novogranadensis is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera. It was first isolated from Parque Estadual de Itacolomi in Ouro Preto, at an altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), on Camponotus novogranadensis.

Ophiocordyceps camponoti-melanotici is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera. It was first isolated from Viçosa, Minas Gerais, on Camponotus melanoticus.

Ophiocordyceps camponoti-rufipedis is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera. It was first isolated from Viçosa, Minas Gerais, at an altitude of 700 metres (2,300 ft) on Camponotus rufipes.

<i>Ophiocordyceps formicarum</i> Species of fungus

Ophiocordyceps formicarum is an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the order Hypocreales (Ascomycota) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. The fungus was first described by mycologist George S. Kobayashi in 1939 as a species of Cordyceps. Originally found in Japan growing on an adult Hercules ant, it was reported from Guizhou, China, in 2003. It was transferred to the new genus Ophiocordyceps in 2007 when the family Cordycipitaceae was reorganized. A technique has been developed to grow the fungus in an agar growth medium supplemented with yeast extract, inosine, and glucose.

<i>Ophiocordyceps robertsii</i> Species of fungus

Ophiocordyceps robertsii, known in New Zealand as vegetable caterpillar is an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the order Hypocreales (Ascomycota) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It invades the caterpillars of leaf-litter dwelling moths and turns them into fungal mummies, sending up a fruiting spike above the forest floor to shed its spores. Caterpillars eat the spores whilst feeding on leaf litter to complete the fungal life cycle. Evidence of this fungus can be seen when small brown stems push through the forest floor: underneath will be the dried remains of the host caterpillar. This species was first thought by Europeans to be a worm or caterpillar that burrowed from the top of a tree to the roots, where it exited and then grew a shoot of the plant out of its head. It was the first fungus provided with a binomial name from New Zealand.

<i>Ophiocordyceps dipterigena</i> Species of fungus

Ophiocordyceps dipterigena is an entomopathogenic fungi species from the genus Ophiocordyceps. This species was originally described in 2007.

References

  1. "Ophiocordyceps Petch 1931". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
  2. Lumbsch TH, Huhndorf SM (December 2007). "Outline of Ascomycota 2007". Myconet. 13. Chicago, USA: The Field Museum, Department of Botany: 1–58.
  3. Petch T. (1931). "Notes on entomogenous fungi". Transactions of the British Mycological Society. 16 (1): 55–75. doi:10.1016/S0007-1536(31)80006-3.
  4. Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CABI. p. 483. ISBN   978-0-85199-826-8.
  5. Sung G-H, Hywel-Jones NL, Sung J-M, Luangsa-ard JJ, Shrestha B, Spatafora JW (2007). "Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi". Studies in Mycology. 57: 5–59. doi:10.3114/sim.2007.57.01. PMC   2104736 . PMID   18490993.
  6. Bhanoo SN (24 August 2010). "In Fossilized Leaf, Clues to a Zombie Ant". The New York Times.
  7. Zimmer C (24 October 2019). "After This Fungus Turns Ants Into Zombies, Their Bodies Explode". The New York Times.
  8. Evans HC, Elliot SL, Hughes DP (March 2011). "Hidden diversity behind the zombie-ant fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis: four new species described from carpenter ants in Minas Gerais, Brazil". PLOS ONE. 6 (3): e17024. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...617024E. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017024 . PMC   3047535 . PMID   21399679.
  9. 1 2 Sheldrake, Merlin (2021). Entangled Life. New York: Random House. p. 96. ISBN   978-0-525-51032-1.
  10. Pontoppidan, Maj-Britt; Himaman, Winanda; Hywel-Jones, Nigel L.; Boomsma, Jacobus J.; Hughes, David P. (2009-03-12). "Graveyards on the Move: The Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Dead Ophiocordyceps-Infected Ants". PLOS ONE. 4 (3): e4835. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.4835P. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004835 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   2652714 . PMID   19279680.
  11. Pontoppidan, Maj-Britt; Himaman, Winanda; Hywel-Jones, Nigel L.; Boomsma, Jacobus J.; Hughes, David P. (2009-03-12). "Graveyards on the Move: The Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Dead Ophiocordyceps-Infected Ants". PLOS ONE. 4 (3): e4835. Bibcode:2009PLoSO...4.4835P. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004835 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   2652714 . PMID   19279680.
  12. Hughes, David P.; Wappler, Torsten; Labandeira, Conrad C. (2011-02-23). "Ancient death-grip leaf scars reveal ant–fungal parasitism". Biology Letters. 7 (1): 67–70. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0521. PMC   3030878 . PMID   20719770.
  13. Xu, Jin; Huang, Ying; Chen, Xiang-Xiang; Zheng, Shuai-Chao; Chen, Peng; Mo, Ming-He (October 2016). "The Mechanisms of Pharmacological Activities of Ophiocordyceps sinensis Fungi: Pharmacological Mechanisms of O . sinensis". Phytotherapy Research. 30 (10): 1572–1583. doi:10.1002/ptr.5673. PMID   27373780. S2CID   2985175.
  14. 1 2 "Cordyceps". Drugs.com. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  15. Yue, K; Ye, M; Zhou, Z; Sun, W; Lin, X (April 2013). "The genus Cordyceps: a chemical and pharmacological review". The Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. 65 (4): 474–93. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-7158.2012.01601.x . PMID   23488776.
  16. Araújo JP, Evans HC, Kepler R, Hughes DP (June 2018). "Ophiocordyceps. I. Myrmecophilous hirsutelloid species". Studies in Mycology. 90: 119–160. doi: 10.1016/j.simyco.2017.12.002 . PMC   6002356 . PMID   29910522.
  17. Kate Golembiewski: Mystery parasites on zombie ant fungus identified by scientists. CNN, Fri November 18, 2022. Source: doi:10.1534/g3.120.401290 PMID 32354705 PMC   7341126 .