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Cordyceps

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Cordyceps /ˈkɔːrdɪsɛps/ is a genus of ascomycete fungi (sac fungi) that includes about 750 species worldwide, 200 of these species are parasitic. 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]

Cordyceps
Cordyceps militaris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Sordariomycetes
Order: Hypocreales
Family: Cordycipitaceae
Genus: Cordyceps
Fr. (1818)
Type species
Cordyceps militaris
(L.) Fr. (1818)

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 known species[4] being from Asia (Nepal, China, Japan, Bhutan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand).

Taxonomy

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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.[8]

Splits

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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]

Species

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A wasp parasitized by an entomopathogenic species of Cordyceps

The following species are recognised in the genus Cordyceps:[10]

Biology

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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.[11]

Research

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Cordycepin

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.[12]

Uses

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Along with Ophiocordyceps, Cordyceps has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine in the belief it can be used to treat diseases.[13] There is no strong scientific evidence for such uses.[12]

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Cordyceps has appeared throughout popular culture:

  • 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).[16]
  • 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.
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See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cordyceps.
 
Wikispecies has information related to Cordyceps.
  1. ^ Buenz, E. J.; B. A. Bauer; Osmundson, T. W. & Motley, T. J. (2005). "The traditional Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis and its effects on apoptotic homeostasis". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 96 (1–2): 19–29. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2004.09.029. PMID 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. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a026341. PMID 10742053.
  3. ^ "Cordyceps". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ a b "Cordyceps". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  6. ^ Elias Magnus Fries, Observ. mycol. (Havniae) 2: 316 (cancellans) (1818)
  7. ^ Edmond Tulasne & Charles Tulasne, Select. fung. carpol. (Paris) 3: 20 (1865)
  8. ^ a b c Sung, GH; Hywel-Jones, NL; Sung, JM; 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.
  9. ^ 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. 10 (3). New York: Begell House: 219–234. doi:10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v10.i3.30. ISSN 1521-9437. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  10. ^ "Index Fungorum - Search Page". www.indexfungorum.org. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  11. ^ 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. doi:10.5941/MYCO.2012.40.2.100. ISSN 1229-8093. PMC 3408298. PMID 22870051.
  12. ^ a b "Cordyceps". Drugs.com. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Chinese Medicine Specimen Database". libproject.hkbu.edu.hk. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  14. ^ Kyle Hill (25 June 2013). "The Fungus that Reduced Humanity to The Last of Us". Scientific American. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  15. ^ D'Addario, Daniel (10 January 2023). "'The Last of Us,' From 'Chernobyl's' Craig Mazin, Is a Promising, Moving Zombie Saga: TV Review". Variety. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  16. ^ Bachman, Mara (12 April 2020). "The Girl With All The Gifts: Fungal Infection & Hungries Explained". ScreenRant. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
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