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    • The real horror of cordyceps: natural mushrooms that create zombies
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    The real horror of cordyceps: natural mushrooms that create zombies

    Umito Posted on

    In 2023, researchers have discovered new information about the strange world of fungi that turn insects into “zombies.” Carolyn Elya, a molecular biologist at Harvard, and her colleagues demonstrated that the fungus Entomophthora muscae could secrete substances into the hemolymph of fruit flies, allowing it to manipulate their neurons. This discovery sheds light on how parasitic fungi can control the behavior of their insect hosts.

    Elya’s fascination with Entomophthora muscae began when she discovered zombified fruit flies in her garden while she was a doctoral student at UC Berkeley. She had taken out some rotten fruit to attract wild fruit flies and found some dead ones with raised wings and white, fluffy spores on their abdomens. DNA sequencing of the spores confirmed that the flies were victims of Entomophthora muscae.

    Intrigued by this phenomenon, Elya infected Drosophila melanogaster, a well-established laboratory model, with Entomophthora muscae to study the fly’s brain and understand the manipulation. In her 2023 report, she and her team showed that the fungus might secrete something in the fly’s hemolymph that helps manipulate neurons. When Elya injected hemolymph from infected flies into uninfected flies, the latter began to behave as if they had been zombified.

    Similarly, Sam Edwards, a postdoctoral researcher at Wageningen University, along with Henrik H. De Fine Licht, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Copenhagen, and colleagues reported their analysis of RNA in fly heads domestic animals after infection with E. muscae. They detected the activity of a fungal gene similar to one called egt, present in zombifying viruses that force infected caterpillars to move to high places. They hypothesize that this gene in E. muscae could induce summation behavior in infected flies.

    The work of Elya, De Fine Licht and others has advanced the understanding of how parasitic fungi control insect behavior. Their research suggests that Entomophthora muscae may directly release chemicals that activate neurons involved in the fly’s apex behavior. Alternatively, the presence of the fungus and physiological changes in the fly may trigger the release of chemicals from the fly’s own neurons that initiate the process.

    Entomophthora muscae is not alone in its macabre manipulation of insects. Cordyceps mushrooms, including species like Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, are famous for hijacking ants’ brains. Once a Cordyceps fungus takes hold of an ant, it commands the ant to climb to a high point on a plant and then bite the stem or twig in a grisly death grip, a behavior called ” summit” or “death grip”. The reproductive structures of the Cordyceps fungus will soon emerge from the ant’s head, spreading its spores to infect another unsuspecting host.

    In the real world, ants typically come into contact with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis when spores fall on them from a tree or plant above. The spores enter the ant’s body without killing it, and the fungus infiltrates the insect’s exoskeleton or digestive tract with a thin, needle-like tube. The fungus then moves on to a new phase and consumes the ant’s organs, including its brain. The spores fall onto the healthy ants below, starting the cycle again.

    Similarly, Cordyceps gunnii attacks caterpillars such as the large “ghost” caterpillars in Australia. Unlike Cordyceps which infects ants, Cordyceps gunnii does not force its victims to climb but takes control when they are buried in the ground. The fungus produces very fine threads (hyphae) that spread through the insect’s body, replacing its structure. The caterpillar is doomed as soon as the Cordyceps fungus begins to grow inside.

    Eventually, the fungus pushes the antler-like reproductive structures through the caterpillar’s head, and a stem sprouts from the dead insect’s head, producing spores. These spore-producing structures can be more than 10 centimeters long. The wind carries the spores to infect more unwary caterpillars.

    The gruesome abilities of Cordyceps mushrooms have inspired popular culture, including the zombie-apocalypse video game and the television series “The Last of Us.” In “The Last of Us,” a widespread fungal infection turns people into zombie-like creatures and causes society to collapse. However, in reality, humans have nothing to fear from Cordyceps mushrooms. “Despite their depiction in ‘The Last of Us,’ humans have nothing to fear from Cordyceps mushrooms.”

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    Fungi like Cordyceps are highly specialized and have evolved over millions of years to infect specific insect hosts. A fungus specialized in infecting and controlling ants or cicadas would need to evolve enormously new tools over millions of years to infect even one other insect, let alone a human. Not all mushrooms are scary, and even the most alarming ones won’t turn you into a zombie.

    Some species of Cordyceps have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Cordyceps sinensis, a Chinese plant caterpillar very similar to Cordyceps gunnii, has been used in traditional medicine. Modern research shows that its use (or extracts) may provide benefits in treatments associated with autoimmune responses.

    Sources: The Conversation, Popular Science, El Sol de México

    This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq



    Umito
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