Ophiocordyceps

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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]
List
  • CordycepioideusStifler (1941)
  • DesmidiosporaThaxt. (1891)
  • PapiliomycesLuangsa-ard, Samson & Thanakitp. (2020)
  • PodonectrioidesKobayasi & Shimizu (1983)
  • SyngliocladiumPetch (1932)

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 its 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 , its 2020 sequel, 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

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 .
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