Cordyceps Explained

Cordyceps is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi) that includes about 600 worldwide species. Diverse variants of cordyceps have had more than 1,500 years of use in Chinese medicine.^[1] Most Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods (they are thus entomopathogenic fungi); a few are parasitic on other fungi.^[2]

The generic name Cordyceps is derived from the ancient Greek κορδύλη kordýlē, meaning "club", and the Latin -ceps, meaning "-headed".^[3] The genus has a worldwide distribution, with most of the approximately 600 known species^[4] being from Asia (notably Nepal, China, Japan, Bhutan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand).

Taxonomy

There are two recognized subgenera:^[5]

• Cordyceps subgen. Cordyceps Fr. 1818^[6]
• Cordyceps subgen. Cordylia Tul. & C. Tul. 1865^[7]

Cordyceps sensu stricto are the teleomorphs of a number of anamorphic, entomopathogenic fungus "genera" such as Beauveria (Cordyceps bassiana), Septofusidium, and Lecanicillium.

Splits

Cordyceps subgen. Epichloe was at one time a subgenus, but is now regarded as a separate genus, Epichloë.^[5]

Cordyceps subgen. Ophiocordyceps was at one time a subgenus defined by morphology. Nuclear DNA sampling done in 2007 shows that members, including "C. sinensis" and "C. unilateralis", as well as some others not placed in the subgenus, were distantly related to most of the remainder of species then placed in Cordyceps (e.g. the type species C. militaris). As a result, it became its own genus, absorbing new members.^{[8] [9]}

The 2007 study also peeled off Metacordyceps (anamorph Metarhizium, Pochonia) and Elaphocordyceps. A number of species remain unclearly assigned and provisionally retained in Cordyceps sensu lato.^[8]

Biology

When Cordyceps attacks a host, the mycelium invades and eventually replaces the host tissue, while the elongated fruit body (ascocarp) may be cylindrical, branched, or of complex shape. The ascocarp bears many small, flask-shaped perithecia containing asci. These, in turn, contain thread-like ascospores, which usually break into fragments and are presumably infective.^[10]

Research

Polysaccharide components and cordycepin isolated from C. militaris are under basic research, but more advanced clinical research has been limited and too low in quality to identify any therapeutic potential of cordyceps components.^[11]

Uses

Along with Ophiocordyceps, Cordyceps has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine in the belief it can be used to treat diseases.^[12] There is no strong scientific evidence for such uses.

In popular culture

Cordyceps has appeared throughout popular culture:

• In the video game series The Last of Us (2013present) and its television adaptation (2023present), a Cordyceps fungus infects humans, causing a zombie apocalypse and the collapse of human civilization.^{[13] [14]}
• It is the cause of the pandemic that wipes out most of humanity in Mike Carey's postapocalyptic novel The Girl with All the Gifts (2014) and its film adaptation (2016).^[15]
• In the book The Ghost Woods by C. J. Cooke, a Cordyceps fungus gains sentience and uses human hosts to manipulate their behaviour into helping it reproduce by finding further hosts.
• In the video game Bug Fables.

See also

• Medicinal fungi

Notes and References

1. The traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis and its effects on apoptotic homeostasis . Buenz . E. J. . B. A. Bauer. Osmundson, T. W. . Motley, T. J.. amp . 2005 . . 96. 1–2. 19–29 . 10.1016/j.jep.2004.09.029. 15588646.
2. Nikoh. N. April 2000. Interkingdom host jumping underground: phylogenetic analysis of entomoparasitic fungus of the genus cordyceps.. Mol Biol Evol. 17. 4. 629–38. 10742053. 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026341. free.
3. Web site: Cordyceps . 2023-08-22 . www.merriam-webster.com . en.
4. 10.3114/sim.2007.57.01 . Sung . Gi-Ho . Nigel L. Hywel-Jones . Jae-Mo Sung . J. Jennifer Luangsa-ard . Bhushan Shrestha . Joseph W. Spatafora . amp . Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi . 2007 . Stud Mycol . 57 . 1 . 5–59 . 18490993 . 2104736.
5. Web site: Cordyceps . Index Fungorum . 4 September 2019 . en .
6. Elias Magnus Fries, Observ. mycol. (Havniae) 2: 316 (cancellans) (1818)
7. Edmond Tulasne & Charles Tulasne, Select. fung. carpol. (Paris) 3: 20 (1865)
8. Sung . GH . Hywel-Jones . NL . Sung . JM . Luangsa-Ard . JJ . Shrestha . B . Spatafora . JW . Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi. . Studies in Mycology . 2007 . 57 . 5–59 . 10.3114/sim.2007.57.01 . 18490993 . 2104736.
9. Holliday . John . Cleaver, Matt . Medicinal Value of the Caterpillar Fungi Species of the Genus Cordyceps (Fr.) Link (Ascomycetes). A Review . International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms . 10 . 3 . 219–234 . Begell House . New York . 2008 . 1521-9437 . 10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v10.i3.30 . 2009-03-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120222065508/http://www.alohamedicinals.com/cordycepsIJM1003.pdf . 2012-02-22 . dead .
10. Shrestha . Bhushan . Han . Sang-Kuk . Sung . Jae-Mo . Sung . Gi-Ho . 2012 . Fruiting Body Formation of Cordyceps militaris from Multi-Ascospore Isolates and Their Single Ascospore Progeny Strains . Mycobiology . 40 . 2 . 100–106 . 10.5941/MYCO.2012.40.2.100 . 1229-8093 . 3408298 . 22870051.
11. Web site: Cordyceps . Drugs.com . 15 September 2023 . 12 July 2023.
12. Web site: Chinese Medicine Specimen Database . 6 March 2023 . libproject.hkbu.edu.hk.
13. The Fungus that Reduced Humanity to The Last of Us . Kyle Hill. Scientific American . 4 May 2021 . 25 June 2013.
14. Web site: D'Addario. Daniel. 2023-01-10. 'The Last of Us,' From 'Chernobyl's' Craig Mazin, Is a Promising, Moving Zombie Saga: TV Review. 2023-02-15. Variety. en-US.
15. Web site: Bachman . Mara . The Girl With All The Gifts: Fungal Infection & Hungries Explained . ScreenRant . 23 October 2023 . en . 12 April 2020.