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Ophiocordyceps

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Ophiocordyceps
Dead ants infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Ophiocordycipitaceae
Genus: Ophiocordyceps
Petch (1931)
Type species
Ophiocordyceps blattae
(Petch) Petch (1931)
Synonyms[1]
List
  • Cordycepioideus Stifler (1941)
  • Desmidiospora Thaxt. (1891)
  • Papiliomyces Luangsa-ard, Samson & Thanakitp. (2020)
  • Podonectrioides Kobayasi & Shimizu (1983)
  • Syngliocladium Petch (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]

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][9] 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".[10] 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.[10] 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.[11] 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

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Moth larvae infested by Ophiocordyceps sinensis sold as herbal medicine

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]

Ophiocordyceps robertsii is used by the Māori people of New Zealand as food and a source of ink for tattoos. The charred insect-fungus complex was mixed with tree sap to make an almost black ink.[16]

Ophiocordyceps nutans in its anamorphic form Hymenostilbe nutans is used as a biological control for stinkbugs.[17]

Non-insect hosts

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One not-yet-named fungus that falls into Ophiocordyceps infects juvenile edible crabs. Infection is fatal once the fungus becomes established in the hemocoel.[18]

Species

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Reference:[19]

Phylogeny

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A relatively broad phylogeny of the genus was published in 2024 as part of the effort to distinguish more species from inside the O. sinensis complex.[21]

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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.This was covered by the microbiology-themed Small things considered blog Zombie Ants and the Evolution of Mind Control.

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

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References

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  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. ^ Mangold, Colleen A.; Ishler, Melissa J.; Loreto, Raquel G.; Hazen, Missy L.; Hughes, David P. (2019-07-17). "Zombie ant death grip due to hypercontracted mandibular muscles". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 222 (Pt 14): jeb200683. doi:10.1242/jeb.200683. ISSN 1477-9145. PMC 6679347. PMID 31315924.
  10. ^ a b Sheldrake, Merlin (2021). Entangled Life. New York: Random House. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-525-51032-1.
  11. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "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. ^ Lehnebach, Carlos A.; Regnault, Claire; Rice, Rebecca; Awa, Isaac Te; Yates, Rachel A. (2023-11-01). Flora: Celebrating our Botanical World. Te Papa Press. ISBN 978-1-9911509-1-2.
  17. ^ Fumito Sasaki; Toshizumi Miyamoto; Aki Yamamoto; Yutaka Tamai & Takashi Yajima (2008). "Morphological and genetic characteristics of the entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps nutans and its host insects". Mycological Research. 112 (10): 1241–1244. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2008.04.008. PMID 18693103.
  18. ^ Smith, A. L.; Hamilton, K. M.; Hirschle, L.; Wootton, E. C.; Vogan, C. L.; Pope, E. C.; Eastwood, D. C.; Rowley, A. F. (2013). "Characterization and Molecular Epidemiology of a Fungal Infection of Edible Crabs (Cancer pagurus) and Interaction of the Fungus with the Dinoflagellate Parasite Hematodinium". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 79 (3): 783–793. Bibcode:2013ApEnM..79..783S. doi:10.1128/AEM.02945-12. PMC 3568540. PMID 23160130.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Dai, Yongdong; Chen, Siqi; Wang, Yuanbing; Wang, Yao; Yang, Zhuliang; Yu, Hong (10 February 2024). "Molecular phylogenetics of the Ophiocordyceps sinensis-species complex lineage (Ascomycota, Hypocreales), with the discovery of new species and predictions of species distribution". IMA Fungus. 15 (1): 2. doi:10.1186/s43008-023-00131-8. PMC 10858606. PMID 38336758.
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