Ophiocordyceps Explained

Ophiocordyceps is a genus of fungi within the family Ophiocordycipitaceae.[1] The widespread genus, first described scientifically by British mycologist Tom Petch in 1931, contains about 140 species that grow on insects. Anamorphic genera that correspond with Ophiocordyceps species are Hirsutella, Hymenostilbe, Isaria, Paraisaria, and Syngliocladium.

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.[2] [3] [4] 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".[5] 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. 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.[6] Areas with high densities of ants that have this fungus growing out of them are known as graveyards.[7]

A 48-million-year-old fossil of an ant in the death-grip of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis was discovered in Germany.[8]

Sources and uses

Ophiocordyceps sinensis is a species that infects the larvae of Tibetan ghost moths, and is used extensively in traditional Chinese medicine.[9] [10] [11] There is currently no scientific evidence that use of this species has any clinically detectable effect on human diseases.[10]

Species

Reference:[12]

In popular culture

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

Notes and References

  1. Lumbsch TH, Huhndorf SM . December 2007 . Outline of Ascomycota  - 2007 . Myconet . 13 . 1–58 . The Field Museum, Department of Botany . Chicago, USA .
  2. Web site: Sindya N . Bhanoo . vanc . In Fossilized Leaf, Clues to a Zombie Ant . The New York Times . 24 August 2010 .
  3. Web site: Carl . Zimmer . vanc . After This Fungus Turns Ants Into Zombies, Their Bodies Explode . The New York Times . 24 October 2019 .
  4. Evans HC, Elliot SL, Hughes DP . 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 . March 2011 . 21399679 . 3047535 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0017024 . 2011PLoSO...617024E . free .
  5. Book: Sheldrake, Merlin . Entangled Life . Random House . 2021 . 978-0-525-51032-1 . New York . 96 . English.
  6. 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 . en . 4 . 3 . e4835 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0004835 . 1932-6203 . 2652714 . 19279680 . 2009PLoSO...4.4835P . free .
  7. 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 . en . 4 . 3 . e4835 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0004835 . 1932-6203 . 2652714 . 19279680 . 2009PLoSO...4.4835P . free .
  8. 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. 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0521. 3030878. 20719770.
  9. 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 . en . 30 . 10 . 1572–1583 . 10.1002/ptr.5673. 27373780 . 2985175 .
  10. Web site: Cordyceps . Drugs.com . 4 January 2021 . 14 September 2020.
  11. Yue . K . Ye . M . Zhou . Z . Sun . W . Lin . X . The genus Cordyceps: a chemical and pharmacological review. . The Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology . April 2013 . 65 . 4 . 474–93 . 10.1111/j.2042-7158.2012.01601.x . 23488776. free .
  12. Araújo JP, Evans HC, Kepler R, Hughes DP . Ophiocordyceps. I. Myrmecophilous hirsutelloid species . Studies in Mycology . 90 . 119–160 . June 2018 . 29910522 . 10.1016/j.simyco.2017.12.002 . 6002356 . free .
  13. Kate Golembiewski: Mystery parasites on zombie ant fungus identified by scientists. CNN, Fri November 18, 2022. Source: PMID 32354705 .

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