Cordyceps

Cordyceps
Cordyceps militaris
Scientific classification
Missing taxonomy template (fix):	Cordyceps
Type species
Cordyceps militaris (L.) Fr. (1818)
Species
List of species 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 henleyae Cordyceps hepialidicola Cordyceps hesleri Cordyceps ignota Cordyceps imagamiana Cordyceps isarioides Cordyceps javanica Cordyceps kirkii Cordyceps koreana Cordyceps kurijimeansis Cordyceps kyushuensis Cordyceps lepidopterorum Cordyceps locusticola Cordyceps locustiphila 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 Template:Strike See Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Cordyceps spegazzinii Cordyceps sphingum Cordyceps submilitaris Cordyceps taishanensis Cordyceps takaomontana Cordyceps tenuipes Template:Strike See Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.

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. Most Cordyceps species are endoparasitoids, parasitic mainly on insects and other arthropods (they are thus entomopathogenic fungi); a few are parasitic on other fungi.

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

Taxonomy

There are two recognized subgenera:

• Cordyceps subgen. Cordyceps Fr. 1818
• Cordyceps subgen. Cordylia Tul. & C. Tul. 1865

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.

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.

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.

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.

Research

Cordycepin

Polysaccharide components and cordycepin are under basic research and have been isolated from C. militaris.

Uses

Along with Ophiocordyceps, Cordyceps has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine in the belief it can be used to treat diseases. 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 (2013–present) and its television adaptation (2023–present), a Cordyceps fungus infects humans, causing a zombie apocalypse and the collapse of human civilization.

• 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).

• Cordyceps-infected bugs are featured as enemies in the video games Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (2020) and Grounded (2022), with Cordyceps serving as a major plot point in the story of the former.

Gallery

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  Cordyceps beginning its fruiting growth from a wasp

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  Cordyceps militaris

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  Cordyceps militaris

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  Cordyceps ophioglossoides

See also

• Medicinal fungi