The Hypocreales are an order of fungi within the class Sordariomycetes. In 2008, it was estimated that it contained some 237 genera, and 2647 species in seven families. Since then, a considerable number of further taxa have been identified, including an additional family, the Stachybotryaceae. Wijayawardene et al. in 2020 added more families and genera to the order. According to the Catalog of Life, As of April 2021 the Hypocreales contains 6 families, 137 genera, and 1411 species. Hyde et al. (2020a) listed 14 families under Hypocreales, while, Wijayawardene et al. (2022) accepted 15 families in the order, where Cylindriaceae was additionally added. Earlier, Hyde et al. (2020a) had placed Cylindriaceae in class Xylariomycetidae. Samarakoon et al. (2022) agreed. Hence, Cylindriaceae should have been excluded from Hypocreales and placed in Xylariomycetidae. Xiao et al. (2022) recently introduced a new family Polycephalomycetaceae to Hypocreales.
An entomopathogenic fungus is a fungus that can kill or seriously disable insects.
Tolypocladium inflatum is an ascomycete fungus originally isolated from a Norwegian soil sample that, under certain conditions, produces the immunosuppressant drug ciclosporin. In its sexual stage (teleomorph) it is a parasite on scarab beetles. It forms a small, compound ascocarp that arises from the cadaver of its host beetle. In its asexual stage (anamorph) it is a white mold that grows on soil. It is much more commonly found in its asexual stage and this is the stage that was originally given the name Tolypocladium inflatum.
Paecilomyces is a genus of fungi. A number of species in this genus are plant pathogens.
The Clavicipitaceae are a family of fungi within the order Hypocreales. A 2008 estimate placed 43 genera in the family, but a study in 2020 has increased this number to 50.
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.
Clonostachys rosea f. rosea, also known as Gliocladium roseum, is a species of fungus in the family Bionectriaceae. It colonizes living plants as an endophyte, digests material in soil as a saprophyte and is also known as a parasite of other fungi and of nematodes. It produces a wide range of volatile organic compounds which are toxic to organisms including other fungi, bacteria, and insects, and is of interest as a biological pest control agent.
Metarhizium is a genus of entomopathogenic fungi in the Clavicipitaceae family. With the advent of genetic profiling, placing these fungi in proper taxa has now become possible. Most turn out to be the asexual forms (anamorphs) of fungi in the phylum Ascomycota, including Metacordyceps spp.
Ophiocordycipitaceae is a family of parasitic fungi in the Ascomycota, class Sordariomycetes. It was updated in 2020.
Podonectria is a genus in the monotypic Podonectriaceae family of fungi. They are parasitic fungus on scale insects, other fungi, or on substrates that had previously colonized by other fungi.
Purpureocillium lilacinum is a species of filamentous fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It has been isolated from a wide range of habitats, including cultivated and uncultivated soils, forests, grassland, deserts, estuarine sediments and sewage sludge, and insects. It has also been found in nematode eggs, and occasionally from females of root-knot and cyst nematodes. In addition, it has frequently been detected in the rhizosphere of many crops. The species can grow at a wide range of temperatures – from 8 to 38 °C for a few isolates, with optimal growth in the range 26 to 30 °C. It also has a wide pH tolerance and can grow on a variety of substrates. P. lilacinum has shown promising results for use as a biocontrol agent to control the growth of destructive root-knot nematodes.
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. Tolypocladium was originally circumscribed as a genus containing anamorphic fungi. It was later determined that some Cordyceps-like teleomorphic fungi were the teleomorphs of Tolypocladium species. These species were considered to belong in the genus Cordyceps until molecular phylogenetics studies found these species to be more closely related to Ophiocordyceps and were considered to belong in that genus before they were transferred to the new genus Elaphocordyceps by Sung and colleagues in 2007. However, under the ICN's 2011 "one fungus, one name" principle, fungi can not have different names for their anamorphic and teleomorphic stages if they are found to be the same taxon. Quandt and colleagues formally synonymized Tolypocladium and Elaphocordyceps in 2014. Quandt and colleagues also synonymized the anamorphic genus Chaunopycnis with Tolypocladium. The immunosuppressant drug ciclosporin was originally isolated from Tolypocladium inflatum, and has since been found in other species of Tolypocladium, some of which were formerly placed in Chaunopycnis.
Ophiocordyceps myrmecophila is a species of fungus that parasitizes insect hosts, in particular members of the order Hymenoptera.
Tolypocladium ophioglossoides, also known by two of its better known synonyms Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides and Cordyceps ophioglossoides and commonly known as the goldenthread cordyceps, is a species of fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is parasitic on fruit bodies of the truffle-like Elaphomyces. The specific epithet ophioglossoides, derived from Ancient Greek, means "like a snake's tongue". The species is thought to be inedible by people in the Western hemisphere, however, Traditional Chinese medicine of the Eastern Hemisphere recognizes T. ophioglossoides as a valuable medicinal fungi.
The Cordycipitaceae are a family of parasitic fungi in the Ascomycota, class Sordariomycetes and order Hypocreales. The family was first published in 1969 by mycologist Hanns Kreisel, but the naming was invalid according to the code of International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. It was validly published in 2007.
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.
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.
Paecilomyces marquandii is a soil-borne filamentous fungus distributed throughout temperate to tropical latitudes worldwide including forest, grassland, sewage sludge and strongly metal polluted area characterized by high tolerance in heavy metals. Simultaneous toxic action of zinc and alachlor result an increase in uptake of metal in this fungus but disrupts the cell membrane. Paecilomyces marquandii is known to parasitize the mushroom, Cuphophyllus virgineus, in the family, Hygrophoraceae. Paecilomyces marquandii is categorised as a biosafety risk group 1 in Canada and is not thought to be a significant pathogen of humans or animals.
Purpureocillium atypicola is a species of fungus, previously known as Nomuraea atypicola, in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae with no subspecies listed in the Catalogue of Life. There are records of this mushroom from Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Ophiocordyceps dipterigena is an entomopathogenic fungi species from the genus Ophiocordyceps. This species was originally described in 2007.
