Cordyceps

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Cordyceps
2010-08-06 Cordyceps militaris 1.jpg
Cordyceps militaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Ascomycota
Class:
Sordariomycetes
Order:
Hypocreales
Family:
Cordycipitaceae
Genus:
Cordyceps

Fr. (1818)
Type species
Cordyceps militaris
(L.) Fr. (1818)
Species[1]
  • Cordyceps acridophila
  • Cordyceps albocitrina
  • Cordyceps amoene -rosea
  • Cordyceps ampullacea
  • Cordyceps bifusispora
  • Cordyceps blackwelliae
  • Cordyceps brasiliensis
  • Cordyceps cateniannulata
  • Cordyceps cateniobliqua
  • Cordyceps chiangdaoensis
  • Cordyceps cicadae
  • Cordyceps coccidioperitheciata
  • Cordyceps coleopterorum
  • Cordyceps confragosa
  • Cordyceps cuncunae
  • Cordyceps cylindrica
  • Cordyceps farinosa
  • Cordyceps fratricida
  • Cordyceps fumosorosea
  • Cordyceps ghanensis
  • Cordyceps grylli
  • Cordyceps guangdongensis
  • Cordyceps gunnii
    • Cordyceps gunnii var. minor
  • Cordyceps hepialidicola
  • Cordyceps hesleri
  • Cordyceps imagamiana
  • Cordyceps isarioides
  • Cordyceps javanica
  • Cordyceps kirkii
  • Cordyceps koreana
  • Cordyceps kurijimeansis
  • Cordyceps kyushuensis
  • Cordyceps lepidopterorum
  • Cordyceps locusticola
  • Cordyceps memorabilis
  • Cordyceps militaris
  • Cordyceps morakotii
  • Cordyceps nakazawai
  • Cordyceps nidus
  • Cordyceps ninchukispora
  • Cordyceps ningxiaensis
  • Cordyceps nirtolii
  • Cordyceps ochraceostromata
  • Cordyceps pleuricapitata
  • Cordyceps polyarthra
  • Cordyceps poprawskii
  • Cordyceps pruinosa
  • Cordyceps pseudonelumboides
  • Cordyceps rosea
  • Cordyceps roseostromata
  • Cordyceps scarabaeucika
  • Cordyceps sinensis See Ophiocordyceps sinensis in §Subtaxa.
  • Cordyceps spegazzinii
  • Cordyceps sphingum
  • Cordyceps submilitaris
  • Cordyceps taishanensis
  • Cordyceps takaomontana
  • Cordyceps tenuipes
  • Cordyceps unilateralis See Ophiocordyceps unilateralis in §Subtaxa.

Cordyceps /ˈkɔːrdɪsɛps/ is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi) that includes about 600 species. 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 Greek word κορδύλη kordýlē, meaning "club", and the Greek word κεφαλή cephali, meaning "head".[citation needed]

The genus has a worldwide distribution and most of the approximately 600 species[3] that have been described are from Asia (notably Nepal, China, Japan, Bhutan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand). Cordyceps species are particularly abundant and diverse in humid temperate and tropical forests.

Subtaxa[]

There are two recognized subgenera:[4]

Cordyceps subgen. Epichloe was at one time a subgenus, but is now regarded as a separate genus, Epichloë.[4]

C. sinensis was shown in 2007 by nuclear DNA sampling to be unrelated to most of the rest of the members of the genus; as a result it was renamed Ophiocordyceps sinensis and placed in a new family, the Ophiocordycipitaceae, as was "Cordyceps unilateralis".[7] Other species previously included in the genus Cordyceps have now been placed in the genus Tolypocladium.[citation needed]

Cordyceps and Metacordyceps spp. are now thought to be the teleomorphs of a number of anamorphic, entomopathogenic fungus "genera" such as: Beauveria (Cordyceps bassiana), Lecanicillium, Metarhizium and Nomuraea.[citation needed]

Biology[]

When a Cordyceps fungus 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.[citation needed]

Research[]

Cordycepin

Polysaccharide components and cordycepin are under basic research and have been isolated from C. militaris.[8] Additionally, in 2021, it was discovered that a Cordyceps-derived small molecule compound called cordyheptapeptide A[9] reduces eukaryotic protein synthesis by inhibiting the eukaryotic translation elongation factor eEF1A.[10][11]

Sources and uses[]

Cordyceps are used in traditional Chinese medicine,[8][12] but there is no scientific evidence that their use has any clinical effect on human diseases.[8]

Fiction[]

The Cordyceps fungus is depicted as a core plot element in the video games The Last of Us (2013), The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014), and The Last of Us Part II (2020), in which a mutated form of the fungus infects humans and causes the collapse of civilization.[13]

In the novel The Girl with All the Gifts (2014) and its film adaptation (2016), a mutation of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is responsible for an infection which also infects humans and causes the collapse of civilization.

Gallery[]

  • Cordyceps beginning its growth from a wasp

  • Cordyceps militaris

  • Cordyceps militaris

  • Cordyceps ophioglossoides

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Cordyceps". NCBI taxonomy. Bethesda, MD: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  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. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026341. PMID 10742053.
  3. ^ Sung, Gi-Ho; Nigel L. Hywel-Jones; Jae-Mo Sung; J. Jennifer Luangsa-ard; Bhushan Shrestha & Joseph W. Spatafora (2007). "Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi". Stud Mycol. 57 (1): 5–59. doi:10.3114/sim.2007.57.01. PMC 2104736. PMID 18490993.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Cordyceps". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  5. ^ Elias Magnus Fries, Observ. mycol. (Havniae) 2: 316 (cancellans) (1818)
  6. ^ Edmond Tulasne & Charles Tulasne, Select. fung. carpol. (Paris) 3: 20 (1865)
  7. ^ Holliday, John; Cleaver, Matt (2008). "Medicinal Value of the Caterpillar Fungi Species of the Genus Cordyceps (Fr.) Link (Ascomycetes). A Review" (PDF). International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms. New York: Begell House. 10 (3): 219–234. doi:10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v10.i3.30. ISSN 1521-9437. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Cordyceps". Drugs.com. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  9. ^ Rukachaisirikul, Vatcharin; Chantaruk, Sirinya; Tansakul, Chittreeya; Saithong, Saowanit; Chaicharernwimonkoon, Laksamee; Pakawatchai, Chaveng; Isaka, Masahiko; Intereya, Kamolphan (2006-02-01). "A Cyclopeptide from the Insect Pathogenic Fungus Cordyceps sp. BCC 1788". Journal of Natural Products. 69 (2): 305–307. doi:10.1021/np050433l. ISSN 0163-3864. PMID 16499340.
  10. ^ Klein, Victoria G.; Bray, Walter M.; Wang, Hao-Yuan; Edmondson, Quinn; Schwochert, Joshua; Ono, Satoshi; Naylor, Matthew R.; Turmon, Alexandra C.; Faris, Justin H.; Okada, Okimasa; Taunton, Jack (2021-08-20). "Identifying the Cellular Target of Cordyheptapeptide A and Synthetic Derivatives". ACS Chemical Biology. 16 (8): 1354–1364. doi:10.1021/acschembio.1c00094. ISSN 1554-8929. PMID 34251165.
  11. ^ Funk, Michael A. (2021-07-30). "Parasite or poisoner". Science. 373 (6554): 530–531. doi:10.1126/science.373.6554.530-a. ISSN 0036-8075.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Kyle Hill (25 June 2013). "The Fungus that Reduced Humanity to The Last of Us". Scientific American. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
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