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2011 - The Year Cordyceps Mushroomed in the Media Landscape

2012-05-02T20:46:14Z

References for an article entitled: "2011 - The Year Cordyceps Mushroomed in the Media Landscape, but did not thrive in Tibet" to be published in Fungi

Sources:
Evans, H.E., Elliot, S.L, and D.P. Hughes 2011. Hidden diversity behind the Zombie-Ant fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis: Four new species described from Carpenter ants in Minas Gerais, Brazil. PloS One Vol 4.5, p. 598 – 602. link

Giove, Candice 2011. New Yorkers paying $800 an ounce for worms that promise sexual prowess. NY Post, Jan 16. link

Halpern, Georges 2007. Healing Mushrooms – Effective treatment for today’s illnesses, Square One Publishers. link

Hansen, Eric. 2011 The Killing Fields - The skyrocketing market value of yarchagumba, a rare fungus prized as an aphrodisiac, has led to turf wars—and possibly murder. Outside Magazine, Sept. link

Hoover, K., M. Grove, M. Gardner, D.P. Hughes, J. McNeil and J. Slavicek. 2011. A gene for an extended phenotype. Science 333: 1401. (PDF)

Huffington Post 2011 a. New Zombie-Creating Fungi Discovered (BBC VIDEO) Mar. 2. link

Huffington Post 2011 b. Caterpillar Fungus Transforms Tibet With Huge Cash Influx. Oct 10. link

Hughes, D.P., Andersen, S. Hywel-Jones, N.L. , Himaman, W., Bilen, J and J.J. Boomsma 2011. Behavioral mechanisms and morphological symptoms of zombie ants dying from fungal infection BMC Ecology 2011, 11:13. (PDF)

Hughes D.P., Wappler, T, & C. C. Labandeira 2010. Ancient death-grip leaf scars reveal ant fungal parasitism Biology Letters, 18th August. (PDF) [many more of Hughes’ papers are available at his webpages]

James, Jamie 2010. Nepal's Aphrodisiac War. Men's Journal 137, May. link

Jolly, Joanna 2011. Yarsagumba: Curse of Himalayan Annapurna region. BBC News, Katmandu, Jan 4. link

Matsuyama, Kanoko 2011. Himalayan Fungus Aids Mitsubishi Tanabe Sales With Multiple Sclerosis Drug. Bloomberg, Feb. link

National Geographic Daily News 2011. Photos: "Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi, Text Matt Kaplan, Mar 3. link

National Geographic Radio Weekend 2011. Feature on Cordyceps - Boyd Matson interviews Daniel Winkler, Apr. 16. link

Paterson, R. M. 2008, Cordyceps - A traditional Chinese medicine and another fungal therapeutic biofactory? Phytochemistry 69: 1469–1495. link

Rundle, Michael 2011. Zombie Animals: Fungi, Insects And Parasites That Resemble The Walking Dead. Huffington Post UK, Mar 10. link

Science Daily 2009. European Evolutionary Biologists Rally behind Richard Dawkins' Extended Phenotype. Jan 19, link

Silverman, Lauren 2011. Caterpillar Fungus: The Viagra Of The Himalayas. NPR, Oct. 9. link

Stone Marcia 2011. Parasite gene makes caterpillars do bidding. Decode Science Blog. link

Winkler, Daniel 2008. The Mushrooming Fungi Market in Tibet - Exemplified by Cordyceps sinensis and Tricholoma matsutake’, in The Shadow of the Leaping Dragon: Demography, Development, and the Environment in Tibetan Areas. Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 4. link

Wong YY, Moon A, Duffin R, Barthet-Barateig A, Meijer HA, Clemens MJ, de Moor CH. 2010. Cordycepin Inhibits Protein Synthesis and Cell Adhesion through Effects on Signal Transduction. Journal of Biological Chemistry 285.4: 2610–2621. link

Zimmer 2011. More eldritch ant horror. Discover Magazine Blogs, May 9. link

Metarhizium Research

2012-04-05T05:46:09Z

Two news bits regarding insects and Cordyceps related fungi came to my attention today.
First piece of research is on ant behavior and what seems like their vaccination program against Metarhizium anisopliae, a Cordyceps anamorph that is a pathogenic fungus. The second article reports on the hope of using the same Metarhizium to fight ticks in in New England, the vector for the spread of Lyme's disease.
Metarhizium anisopliae use as a insecticide is not a new approach. It was first used over 130 years ago. In 1879 Elie Metchnikoff used it in experimental tests to control the wheat grain beetle, Anisoplia austriaca. It was later used to control the sugar beet curculio, Cleonus punctiventris (for more details see MBCN). In recent years the use of Metarhizium anisopliae is being researched to control the spread of malaria by infecting the African mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

1. A German/Austrian researcher team published an article entitled "Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies"

in PloS Biology describing what looks like Lasius ants vaccinating each other against the Cordyceps anamorph Metarhizium anisopliae, which is a serious entomopathogene.

Author Summary
Close social contact facilitates pathogen transmission in societies, often causing epidemics. In contrast to this, we show that limited transmission of a fungal pathogen in ant colonies can be beneficial for the host, because it promotes “social immunisation” of healthy group members. We found that ants exposed to the fungus are heavily groomed by their healthy nestmates. Grooming removes a significant number of fungal conidiospores from the body surface of exposed ants and reduces their risk of falling sick. At the same time, previously healthy nestmates are themselves exposed to a small number of conidiospores, triggering low-level infections. These micro-infections are not deadly, but result in upregulated expression of a specific set of immune genes and pathogen-specific protective immune stimulation. Pathogen transfer by social interactions is therefore the underlying mechanism of social immunisation against fungal infections in ant societies. There is a similarity between such natural social immunisation and human efforts to induce immunity against deadly diseases, such as smallpox. Before vaccination with dead or attenuated strains was invented, immunity in human societies was induced by actively transferring low-level infections (“variolation”), just like in ants.

Citation: Konrad M, Vyleta ML, Theis FJ, Stock M, Tragust S, et al. (2012) Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies. PLoS Biol 10(4): e1001300. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001300

2. Scientists find fungus that kills Lyme disease-carrying ticks

By Vinti Singh, Connecticut Post Posted March 04, 2012, at 5:58 a.m

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Local scientists have found a way to control the ticks responsible for passing Lyme disease on to humans. A new natural pesticide, derived from a strain of fungus that is deadly to the black-legged tick could help keep tick populations under control.

Unlike some synthetic pesticides that can be dangerous for more than just ticks, the fungus does not harm honeybees, earthworms or other beneficial insects.

The product was developed by a Fairfield-based company that was bought out by the Danish industrial biotechnology company Novozymes.

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s field trials of the fungus helped obtain federal Environmental Protection Agency registration. Novozymes has built a plant in Canada to mass produce the product, Tick-Ex.

It will be commercially available in 2014, said Kirby Stafford, the station’s vice director and chief entomologist.

“A lot of people do have their yards sprayed with pesticides, and they are quite effective, because synthetic materials will give you an 85 to 100 percent success rate,” Stafford said. “But there are a special number of people who don’t want to use them. The (organic product) may be slightly less effective, but it’s giving people options. It certainly would fit in to organic land care.”

The pesticide is made of the F52 strain of the Metarhizium anisopliae fungus, which occurs naturally in soil. The station tested it on residential properties in northwestern Connecticut and found up to 74 percent fewer ticks after treatment.

Although rates dipped slightly in 2010, the number of people in Connecticut with Lyme disease has been steadily rising, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Connecticut has the nation’s highest number of cases, relative to population. The first symptoms of the disease include headache, fever and rashes. But if left untreated, the disease can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system.

The overabundant deer population is one reason the disease is so widespread, according to the state Department of Public Health. Black-legged ticks feed on large mammal hosts, which in Connecticut are usually deer.

Many Lyme disease experts have said the solution is to cull the deer, but research shows that is only really effective when the deer are culled to very low numbers, said Louis Magnarelli, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

The station has researched a number of methods to control Lyme disease.

It found nootkatone, a component of essential oil from Alaskan Yellow Cedar and grapefruit is toxic to ticks, and is highly effective.

As tests wind down, there is a small chance a company will pick it up because the cedar oil is only produced at a grade suitable for cosmetics and foods, making it expensive. Until production is scaled up for more commercial uses, it won’t be used to eradicate ticks, Stafford said. The station has also tested a garlic spray product, which suppresses tick activity for around two weeks. Scientists in Maine discovered that a rosemary oil product, EcoEXEMPT, will eradicate ticks for at least two weeks.

The nationwide tick control research community is pretty small, Stafford said. Between 2001 and 2012, the state Department of Health and the agricultural experiment station have received a little more than $2 million for public outreach and tick control research from the CDC. The CDC was expected to hand out two tick control grants in 2011, but based on available funds ended up only distributing one, which went to a research laboratory in Rhode Island.

Studies have found the fungus strain is also effective in killing bed bugs, but it won’t be marketed for that use just yet.

“I can’t see spreading the spores of this fungus into a bedroom,” Stafford said. “But it begs for a formulation of how you expose it to just the targets and not the rest of the environment.”

Distributed by MCT Information Services

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/03/04/health/scientists-find-fungus-that-kills-lyme-disease-carrying-ticks/

Rain Forest Cordyceps & Allies Found in Bolivia 2012

2012-03-06T03:27:56Z

Here a collection of the best Cordyceps photos I took during our Mushroaming Bolivia's Amazon Rain Forest Tour, January 20 through February 2, 2012. Unless otherwise specified the fungi were found between 250 to 400m a.s.l. All specimens have been deposited in the National Herbarium in La Paz, Bolivia. Note all these fruiting bodies are growing post-mortem out of the parasitized insects.
Link to the 2012 Mushroaming Cordyceps Expedition to East Tibet

1) Ophiocordyceps dipterigena and its anamorph, the asexual reproducing Hymenostilbe dipterigena.On the left is one capitate fruiting body [the fertile tissue is clearly separated from the stem of the stroma / fruiting body], which produces the spores for Ophiocordyceps dipterigena. On the right 10 conidophores of Hymenostilbe dipterigena, that are producing conidia, asexually generated reproductive cells [think self-cloning]. The pimpled upper part of the stalks looks like it is already producing conidia. This Cordyceps attacks flies in tropical forest in Asia, Africa and America. This was the first Cordyceps I found and it was tiny, the whole thing not bigger than 1 cm. Also the carcass of the fly was not complete, which was fixed by the Cordyceps to a tiny stick or leaf stem. I was helped by the identification by Tatiana Sanjuan, who is working on her PhD on Amazon Cordyceps species. Cerro Brujo, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia
[More background on this species on the Corvallis Cordycep page. Also there is a range of biomedical research published on this species, it contains exobiopolymers, which are important agents in industrial as well as health application, i.e. for wound healing.]

Cordyceps locustiphila

2) A colorful grasshopper in some areas overgrown by a Cordyceps that is also growing half a dozen fruiting bodies. The fungus is probably Cordyceps locustiphila, the "Locust-loving Cordyceps". Talking about a deadly embrace! Found by Nicole Cook near Caquihuara Macaw Cliff, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

Akanthomyces sp.

3) On of my favorite specimens was this oldish 8cm sphinxoid moth digested by a Cordyceps. It is an Akanthomyces species (Tatiana suggests A. pistilariformis), an anamorphic fungus related to Cordyceps. Anamorphic means this fungus does not reproduce sexually with spores, but produces conidia, which have the same DNA as the fungus. It already has shed all its conidia, which grow on the antenna-like structures, called conidiophores. Check out Isaria tenuipes below, that gives you an idea how many conidia can be grown by an anamorph. The fungus affixed the moth to the leaf so it can keep this great perch to disperse its "spores" successfully. Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

Isaria tenuipes

4) An Isaria tenuipes Peck, another Cordyceps-anamorph growing out of a Pupa of Noctunidae found in the hollow of a very decayed tree trunk. Fruiting body height 5cm.
Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

5) Another Isaria tenuipes with tons of conidia or conidiospores. The attic greek root of the term conidia means dust. Isaria is a cosmopolitan species. I am not sure if the infected insect was very hairy or some other organism is responsible for all the brittles. Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

Ophiocordyceps australis

6) A red fruiting Ophiocordyceps australis fruiting from an ant between Xylaria fruiting bodies. At first I was just trying to get a picture of the Xylaria then I saw the Cordyceps. Key for finding Cordyceps is slowing down and looking carefully. Best substrate are decaying tree trunks, but many other locations are sites Cordyceps will direct its prey to before killing it and digesting it. Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

7) A transect of the head of an Ophiocordyceps australis reveals seed-like
structures, which are the perithecia containing the asci-sacs in which the spores are produced. Size of the head is about 8 mm. Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

Ophiocordyceps australis

8) Ophiocordyceps australis growing out of an ant.
Cerro Brujo, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

Metacordyceps martialis? and Ophiocordyceps australis

9) A late stage Metacordyceps, probably Metacordyceps martialis laying next to Ophiocordyceps australis. Found by Brendan O'Brian at Cerro Brujo, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

Metacordyceps sp.?

10) A much fresher specimen, probably a Metacordyceps. The fruiting bodies are growing out of a coleopteran larva (length ca 6 cm). Cerro Brujo, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia

The enlarged fruiting body
10a) The yellow area in the center of the stromata contains mature perithecia. The darkish spots are the ostioles, the opening of the perithecium through which the spores are released. The top white part is not fully differentiated yet and still growing. When maturing it will turn yellow too and develop the pimpled surface due to growth of the perithecia.

11) Probably a Hirsutella, a Cordyceps anamorph. As typical for an anamorph this specimen is lacking a well-defined "head". Hirsutella-species will depend on the digested insect. Found by Colden McClurg at Cerro Brujo, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia. Identified by Tatiana Sanjuan.

12) Ophiocordyceps kniphofiodes var. ponerinae jutting out of a dead trunk. Ponerinae refers to the group of ants this Ophiocordyceps attacks. I love the orange-black contrast. The orange is the fertile tissue. Identified by Tatiana Sanjuan. Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

12a) Here the same Ophiocordyceps kniphofiodes var. ponerinae with its victim or host, whichever perspective one takes, a Ponerinae ant dug out of the rotten wood. Unfortunately my camera was fogged-up that morning. Photographing in the rain forest, even when it does not rain is a real challenge. My flash stopped working for 5 days, but once out of the humidity it came back to life, go figure! Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

13) A similar Cordyceps we encountered in Coroico in the Yungas, the cloud forest belt in around 1500 m asl. Found by Nicole Cook. If the host is a Ponerinae ant it could be Ophiocordyceps kniphofiodes var. ponerinae as well according to Tatiana Sanjuan.

14) Another ant-parasitizing Ophiocordyceps kniphofiodes var. ponerinae. This stroma is not fully matured yet. Found by Brendan O'Brien at Cerro Brujo, Rurrenabaque, Bolivia.

15) A brightly red fruiting Cordyceps growing out of some insect protein. Trying to figure out what it could be, I came up with Cordyceps pruinosa due to color and perithecia shape and alignment. However, so far this species is not described from the neotropics, but known from East Asia. Tatiana Sanjuan informed me that she found many specimen of C. pruinosa in the Amazon and Depending on the host it could be C. caloceroides (parasitizing on Theraphosidae / tarantula) or C. pruinosa (parasitizing eggs of Acrididae / grasshoppers). Furthermore she sugests that with application of KOH these fungi turn purple.
Found by Pat Hill in Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

15a) Partly extracted from the log, the kink in one of the stromata was caused when it hit the tough bark and changed direction to find its way out.

15b) What color, what beautiful structure! Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

16) Fruiting bodies growing out of a mesh of palm roots. I waited for three days to unearth the host insect in hope the fungus would further mature. Unfortunately digging down to the host insect was impossible. It was all totally intertwined palm roots looking absolutely identical to the black lower part of the stromata and before I got to any insect I had already broken off or sliced off the fungal tissue from its elusive base. Last straw was when I cut my finger. Should have brought a big saw! Chalalan, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

16a) Transect of the Cordyceps shown above. The perithecia are not fully developed yet. Larry Evans tried to find spores under the microscope, but to no avail.

Torrubiella sp.

17) A Salticidae spider fully enmeshed in fungal tissue by a Torrubiella species. Size is about 3 cm across. Found by Colden McClurg near Caquihuara Macaw Cliff, Madidi National Park, Bolivia.

17a) Looking at the top of the former spider. The ring-like structure and the round knobs inside the ring are packed with perithecia of the Torrubiella fungus.

Link to the 2012 Mushroaming Cordyceps Expedition to East Tibet

New Interesting Publications on Cordyceps

2012-03-03T01:10:08Z

Recently I came across a few new scientific publications on Cordyceps. Here is a short overview.

I was glad to see a new article by Yao et al. on the distribution area of Ophiocordyceps sinensis by a group of China-based researchers. The authors claim to having traveled the distribution area extensively, besides sifting through a lot of mostly Chinese sources to outline the current distribution. It does not really contain much new information regarding the extent of the distribution area beyond what my distribution maps (Winkler 2008 & 2009) already are showing. However, most interesting I find their on-site verification of the lowest altitude of caterpillar fungus distribution just around 3000m and debunking older claims of sites in the low 2000m. Also the highest distribution of around 5000m is confirmed. Here a quote: " The lowest altitude recorded was 3,087 m with supporting collections [..] made in Xiaojin County, Sichuan Province. It is conceivable that 3,000 m is in general the reliable lowest altitude for the distribution of O. sinensis. The highest altitude was recorded as 5,048 m [..] collected in Nagqu County, Tibet." And of course I should mention that they collected lot of herbaria samples.
However, Yao et al. claim to have published first records for twelve counties in Tibet AR previously not published does not really hold up. Several of these counties were already reported as Cordyceps sourcing area in the Atlas of Tibet AR (1996) I used as one of my sources for compiling the first Cordyceps distribution map I published in 2005 (Winkler 2005). Anyways, overall it was very helpful that a lot of Chinese language sources were scanned and a bunch of bad sources that reported Ophiocordyceps sinensis to grow outside of its distribution area were debunked.

Another paper authored by a team from researchers in Hong Kong describes microscopy techniques to verify Ophiocordyceps sinensis authenticity. Furthermore the team analyzed over 50 O. sinensis products on the market , the majority being the natural product, but the samples included also pills and clear counterfits. Not surprisingly there was not only caterpillar fungus in many products....

Very interesting from a taxonomic point is an article on Metacordyceps taxonomy by Kepler et al. 2011. So far Metocordyceps was only described from East Asia, but now it is apparent that it is also distributed in the Neotropics. Already in February 2011 I found Metacordyceps in Ecuador's Amazon Rain forest, but back then it was not published yet as distributed in the Americas.
A picture of a Metacordyceps is posted below.

A medical article comparing Ophiocordyceps sinensis with Cyclosporin by Ding et al. 2011, a Chinese team of doctors from Xian was published and concluding that the Cs and cyclosporin recipients did not show significantly different outcome, but Cs recipients had less complications, if I understand the abstract correctly and it gets more techincal quickly.

Sources:
Atlas of AR [Xizang Zizhiqu Dituce] (1996). Zhongguo Ditu Chubanshe Chuban (China Cartographic Publishing House), Beijing, 1-167. (in Chinese)

Au D, Wang L, Yang D, Mok DK, Chan AS, Xu H. 2011. Application of microscopy in authentication of valuable Chinese medicine I--Cordyceps sinensis, its counterfeits, and related products. Microsc Res Tech. 75.1:54-64. pdf

Ding C, Tian PX, Xue W, Ding X, Yan H, Pan X, Feng X, Xiang H, Hou J, Tian X. 2011. Efficacy of Cordyceps sinensis in long term treatment of renal transplant patients. In: Front Biosci (Elite Ed). 2011 1.3:301-7. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21196310

Kepler RM, Sung GH, Ban S, Nakagiri A, Chen MJ, Huang B, Li Z, Spatafora JW. 2012. New teleomorph combinations in the entomopathogenic genus Metacordyceps. Mycologia 104(1):182-97.

Winkler, D. 2005. Yartsa Gunbu - Cordyceps sinensis. Economy, Ethno-mycology & Ecology of a Fungus Endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. A.Boesi & F. Cardi (eds.). Wildlife and plants in traditional and modern Tibet: Conceptions, Exploitation and Conservation. Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano, Vol. 33.1, 69-85. link

Winkler, D. 2008. Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of the Rural Economy in Tibet AR. Economic Botany 63.2: 291-306. pdf

Yi Li, Xiao-Liang Wang, Lei Jiao, Yi Jiang, Hui Li, Si-Ping Jiang, Ngarong Lhosum Tseiring,
Shen-Zhan Fu, Cai-Hong Dong, Yu Zhan, and Yi-Jian Yao 2011. A Survey of the Geographic Distribution of Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Journal of Microbiology 49.6, pp. 913-919. pdf

A Metacordyceps I found in Ecuador

NPR feature on Mushroom Hunting in the PNW

2011-12-01T03:59:54Z

Seattle's NPR station KUOW had in late October a radio feature produced by Ann Dornfeld on PNW mushroom hunting that features PSMS' "Fat of the Land"-Man Langdon Cook and me. I should note that Langdon made the contact and generously allowed me to come along. This was broadcasted during Steve Scher's Weekday's special on "sustainability of foraging" in the Puget Sound region (including urban areas). The first 10 min or so is the report on a mushroom hunt in the Cascade foothills, where we picked chanterelles.

"Fat of the Land"-Man Langdon Cook, Ann Dornfeld and Daniel Winkler

After the hunt Langdon cooked the chanties up in the parking lot, yummy!

Cordyceps militaris & Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides

2011-10-19T18:33:27Z

found in Western Washington State early October 2011

Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides and Cordyceps militaris.
Photo © D. Winkler

Cordyceps militaris

Cordyceps militaris fruiting out of a lepidopteran pupa found by Marian Maxwell. As other true Cordyceps-species it is typified by brightly colored, fleshy stromata. A common name used in the UK is Scarlet Caterpillarclub. Photo © D. Winkler
Drumstick Truffleclub

A Cordyceps militaris stroma close-up showing the "blister"-like perithecia. Inside a perithecium longish asci sacs are embedded in which spores are produced. Photo © D. Winkler

A cross section reveals the structure of the fruiting body. Photo © D. Winkler

Note, how the perithecia are only partially submersed in the stroma of Cordyceps militaris.

Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides

Twin Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides parasitizing on a twin deer truffle (Elaphomyces sp.).
Snaketongue Truffleclub is a good English name used in the UK. Until 2007 it was classified as a true Cordyceps in the Clavicipitaceae family, but now all truffle parasitizing Cordyceps and closely related species that attack nymphs of cicadas are classified as Elaphocordyceps based on an extensive phylogenetic study published by Sung et al. While Cordyceps militaris is the type species in the new Cordycipitaceae family, Elaphocordyceps and Ophiocordyceps species are in the newly erected Ophiocordycepitaceae with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis as type specimen.
This Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides specimen was found by Christian Schwarz
in the Sol Duc forests on the Olympic Peninsula. Photo © D. Winkler

Cross section of the stroma of Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides. Photo © D. Winkler

The perithecia are completely immersed in stroma tissue in an ordinal arrangement, where perithecia are oriented in a right angle to the surface.
In the lower center of the image a larva is visible, a parasite parasitizing a parasite,
or more neutrally formulated "The web of life". Photo © D. Winkler

Sporulating Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides. This photo was taken one day after the photo above showing the complete Cordyceps-truffle complex. Sporulation had commenced.
Whereas spores in the Cordycipitaceae subdivide into part-spores or propagules, spores in the Ophiocordycipitaceae remain whole and can not subdivide. Photo © D. Winkler

Elaphocordyceps capitata

The most common Cordyceps in the PNW seems to be Elaphocordyceps capitata, the Drumstick Truffleclub. This specimen was found by Thom O'Dell near Sol Duc on the Olympic Peninsula in late October 2008. Photo © D. Winkler

The fertile tissue (brown) of the Elaphocordyceps capitata stroma is very distinct from the non-fertile yellow tissue. Photo © D. Winkler

Two freshly dug Elaphocordyceps capitata specimen found near Breitenbush Hot Springs, OR in 2004. The stroma attaches in these specimens directly onto the Elaphomyces truffle, which it is parasitizing. Photo © D. Winkler

More images of other Cordyceps species on my MushRoaming webpages
Caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) pages
2012 Cordyceps Expedition to Tibet

Seattle Times Article on PSMS Mushroom Show includes Cordyceps militaris image

2011-10-17T17:56:00Z

Here a close up of the stroma (= fruiting body) of the same Cordyceps militaris, which was originally found by Marian Maxwell, and generously left to me.

MushRoaming Bolivia Jan. 2012

2011-10-05T06:35:42Z

Amazing Amazon - MushRoaming Bolivia
Jan. 20 to Feb 2, 2012

After last February's awesome tour in Ecuador, Larry Evans, Montana mycologist known from “Know your Mushrooms” and Daniel Winkler, MushRoaming LLC, will be teaming up again for an eco-tour exploring Bolivia's rich biodiversity and especially its mushrooms. We will meet in La Paz, explore the city and then slowly travel down the Andes to the cloud forest Yungas. Down in the Amazon rain forest we will travel half a day up river by canoe to an eco-lodge where will stay for 6 days surrounded by stunning pristine Amazon Rain Forest to explore the local funga, flora & fauna. Here we will have additional knowledgeable local guides assisting Larry who has researched the Amazonian funga for many years and Daniel. Then we will be returning to the high altitude environment and explore Uyuni, the worlds largest salt fields. More details on: www.MushRoaming.com

Lentinus crinitus is a beautiful mushroom, especially when young and is also an edible.
(Above the text: Phallus indusiatus, the Veiled Stinkhorn)

Gene that makes insect climb after infection isolated

2011-10-05T06:35:20Z

An article in Discover magazine reports that Kelli Hoover and Michael Grove from Pennsylvania State University have just discovered one of the genes – LdMNPV – that Baculovirus uses to control its moth hosts. After infection by the virus the moth will climb to a high place, ideally suited for the virus to spread its spores after the moth is killed in this prime location.

Many Cordyceps species direct their victims into locations that are optimal for host digestion and spore dispersal - i.e. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, and they might use similar strategies as described in this interesting article. Don't forget to check out the links at the bottom of the article.

Reference: Hoover, K., M. Grove, M. Gardner, D.P. Hughes, J. McNeil and J. Slavicek. 2011. A gene for an extended phenotype. Science 333: 1401.

"New" Cordyceps Article published

2011-07-30T03:19:12Z

The final version of my paper "Caterpillar Fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) Production and Sustainability on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas" has been published in Asian Medicine 5 (2009), p. 291–316.
This paper has been published before in Chinese Journal of Grassland vol. 32 Suppl. p. 96-108. However, the printed version was already outdated before it was published in June 2010 and I had an updated version online that was last update June 11, 2010.

The latest version to be downloaded here, last reviewed in March 2011 was unfortunately published as "2009".

Tong bu ra nyi

Here a twin yartsa gunbu known in Amdo Tibetan as "Tongbu ranyi" (=1000 bu horn two), better translated as "two fruiting bodies occurring once among a thousand yartsa gunbu".

Cordyceps militaris en masse on the market in Chengdu

2011-07-29T12:54:56Z

Today for lunch we had Cordyceps militaris, which was quite tasty and added nice color and texture to the dish with its chanterelle-like yellow. The 5 to 12 cm long fruiting bodies come in long strands and are easy to use. In the past this cultivated medicinal fungus was quite costly. However, it was never as expensive as Ophiocordyceps sinensis, which still no one has figured out how to grow in order that it will produce fruiting bodies.

Well, this bit was written 6 weeks ago, and we took some of the fresh Cordyceps militaris with us to Lhasa where we enjoyed Cordyceps Pizza at the Kyichu hotel. The staff there is already used to me bringing in exotic mushrooms. Last year I found some Sulfur Shelf in Kongpo (Laetiporus sulpherus var. miniatus) and asked the cook to prepare it for our MushRoaming tour group. We also have been enjoying the Shaggy manes (Coprinus comatus) several times in past years that grow in the hotel's beautiful yard.

Dried and fresh Cordyceps militaris for sale on the market in Chengdu. Fresh Cordy only cost 12RMB per pound, dried ones 25 to 60RMB, great deal! Had to take a pound home, dry mushrooms are no problem with customs as long as there are no larvae in there.

Cordyceps militaris on a garlic & onion Pizza with some Lhasa beer, it does not get much better!

Slim Bu Picking in 2011?

2011-06-10T15:26:09Z

Having just visited yartsa gunbu collection areas in SW Qinghai's Gyegu / Yushu / Jyekundo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture early June 2011 it was evident that 2011 will be a year with a harvest below average. Some locals estimated 60 to 70% of last years harvest, which was a banner year. A Gyegu dealer suspected only half the production of 2010.
However, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas have many different climate zones and I was hoping that some other areas would report a better harvest, but that seems not to be the case. I was also told from Garze / Ganzi / Kandze TAP in West Sichuan that this season is not very good and today I saw a newspaper article out of Bhutan that writes about the reduced harvest there. Since these a quite distinct areas located far apart on the Plateau, it seems like the whole harvest in 2011 will be lower than in 2010 and probably also below 2009 and 2008, but there are no reliable data to lift any of this out of sheer speculation. Still, since the 2010 harvest was so high it was to be expected that that the 2011 harvest would be bellow 2010 was to expected.

Yartsa Gunbu being dried over a yak dung heated stove sitting on top of a cooking pot full of boiling water. In the background in the tent a nomad cleaning fresh yartsa gunbu with a plastic hair brush.

The Gyegu / Yushu Yartsa Gunbu market is happening on June 6. It takes place in front of a lone building that survived that devastating April 2010 earthquake. In the back a destroyed building. The blue tents are omnipresent in Gyegu, since over 90% of the houses were lost. Although there is lot of construction activity right now, the extended frost period that stops the use of concrete slows down reconstruction considerably. Basically the hole town functions out of blue tents. In the morning of this day there was another earth small tremor.

Shrinking Yartsa Gunbu Harvest in Yushu Prefecture?

2011-06-04T14:27:37Z

One of Qinghai most famous counties when it comes to caterpillar fungus resources is Zadoi / Dzato in Yushu / Gyegu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The main objective of our field work here is looking into Ophiocordyceps sinensis sustainability issues. Unfortunately Qinghai Province has no program to collect yartsa gunbu production numbers. Thus we decided to ask collectors, dealers and administrators to get a feeling regarding changes in annual production. Most people interviewed report a lower "bu" harvest [besides the fact that 2011 is a lousy season here in Yushu TAP, Southwest Qinghai]. Everyone acknowledges that there are many more collectors on the mountains than there used to be, but still there is also less bu than there used to be. One common example is that areas that used to be very rich in bu have little left and that now they have to search much bigger areas with lower concentration. Maybe this shift is due to over-predation? So it looks like we are facing sustainability issues after all, too bad.

I am working with WWF China on an initiative to cut the collection season short to make sure some bu stays in the ground to fully sporulate and provide spores to infect larvae for the next harvest season. After having gone though a bunch of questions regarding yartsa gunbu harvest, income etc. we show a sequence of images depicting the different stages of maturing caterpillar fungus. Then I have a graph showing the life cycle of the ghost moth. Some collectors are totally fascinated by that info and even said, you should make brochures and get this info out. So far, most people reacted positively to the suggestion of cutting the season short when bu loses much of its value and sporulates heavily. In general everyone wants the resource secured and this approach makes sense to them and does not stop collection altogether. Everyone is totally dependent on that fungal money, outright scarily so.

WWF's Norbu is sharing the maturing stages of caterpillar fungus with a collector lady, who suggested we should turn it into a brochure and get it on TV to inform all collectors.

A yartsa gunbu deal on the grassland. Zadoi midsize bu went for 38RMB a piece, roughly 5US$.

Bu collectors camp in the back country of Zadoi. In front typical habitat that is otherwise mainly yak summer pasture. There were several camps in this valley, this one had 50 tents, so roughly 150 to 250 people. Whole families move up here for the 5 weeks collection season.

Grandpa stays back with the kids too small to search for bu.

Research update from Qinghai

2011-05-30T11:54:11Z

It seems that the 2011 harvest season might be less productive than last year's season, which was very good.

Still the price for caterpillar fungus is quite similar to 2010, just a little bit higher so far. However the price might move up further if the harvest turns out to be disappointing due to worries about a shortage of yartsa gunbu supply.

Several sources indicated that a dry winter is seen as the reason for a lower production. Although it is raining right now in Jyekundo = Yushu, at this point this moisture input would not increase the quantity of fruitings, but might improve the quality.

Anyway, a few more days on the grasslands might give us a better understanding what is actually going on.

Miss An showing some bu that goes for 125,000RMB [20,000USD] per pound

Swiss Caterpillar Secrets or Secretions

Meanwhile NZZ, Neue Zuericher Zeitung, Switzerland's leading news paper, informed their readers this week that in Qinghai Province people are searching the grasslands for precious caterpillar secretions ["Raupen-Sekret"]. NZZ also knew that these secretions are very desired in Tibetan and Chinese medicine.
Rather embarrasing journalistic secretions by a NZZ writer I'd say.

New Cordyceps Articles and Reports from the New Season

2011-05-17T20:12:00Z

In January an article was published in the International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms 12(4):427–434 (2010) entitled:
Ethnomycological use of Medicinal Chinese Caterpillar Fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G. H. Sung et al. (Ascomycetes) in Northern Yunnan Province, SW China.

Authors: Jiyue Chen,1 Sangwoo Lee,2 Yongqiang Cao,1 Yanqiong Peng,1 Daniel Winkler,3 Darong Yang1
1 Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China; 2 International Biological Material Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Yusong Daejeon, South Korea; 3 EcoMontane Consulting, Kirkland, WA 98034, USA.

Although I am listed as a co-author and spend quite some time reviewing the paper, I was not part of the original research team. Here is a link to the summary.

In April nearly the same team published in Mycotaxon a paper on a new Cordyceps species: Ophiocordyceps laojunshanensis found in NW Yunnan: It is characterized by slender stromata, sparse perithecia, and the unique habitat of growing in mosses

2011 Mycotaxon vol. 115, pp. 1–4

A new species of Ophiocordyceps (Clavicipitales, Ascomycota) 
from southwestern China

by Ji-Yue Chen, Yong-Qiang Cao, Da-Rong Yang & Ming-Hua Li

Here is a link to the summary

Interview in Tintling

Furthermore I have been interviewed by Tintling, the German Mushroom Magazine. The quite extensive interview with tons of mushroom pictures from Tibet, Bhutan, and North and South America, can now be downloaded as a pdf. It was publisched in Tintling 69, 2/2011, p.56-69

In German: Im Tintling, der deutschsprachigen Pilzzeitung, erschien im April 2011 [Heft 69, S.56-69] ein längeres Interview mit mir, das zudem reich bebildert ist mit zumeist Pilzbildern aus Tibet, Bhutan, und Nord- und Südamerika. Hier der Link zum Herunterladen.

First news reports are trickling in regarding the 2011 collection season, which is underway all over the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.

In Nepal people start heading for the alpine areas to collect yarsagumba - caterpillar fungus. Villages get deserted and schools are closing too, just like in Tibet. Here an article from the Himalayan Times.

From Bhutan Kuensel reports that local elections needed to be moved, otherwise there would have been only few voters, since so many people are up in the mountains collecting Ophiocordyceps sinensis. Also in Bhutan observer was an article on April 27, reporting that the government organized Cordyceps auctions established to maximize villagers fungal income will now be organized by the communities. Details can be read in the Bhutan Observer. Special thanks to Francoise Pommaret who keeps me always posted on the latest developments in Bhutan.

On Mice and Moods

2011-05-16T05:19:00Z

I just recently came across this research published already in 2007 on Cordyceps sinensis tested as an antidepressant on mice. Past experiments using anti-depressants have shown that mice suspend their tails up in the air when they are in a better mood. So tails up apparently can be used to access the potential of a drug as antidepressant. I pasted the summary in and set a link to the complete paper.

Antidepressant-Like Effect of Cordyceps sinensis in the Mouse Tail Suspension Test

Koji NISHIZAWA, Kosuke TORII, Aya KAWASAKI, Masanori KATADA, Minoru ITO,Kenzo TERASHITA, Sadakazu AISO and Masaaki MATSUOKA

Biol. Pharm. Bull. 30(9) 1758—1762 (2007)

link
Summary
Cordyceps sinensis (CS) has been known as a component of traditional medicines that elicit various biological effects such as anti-fatigue, immunomodulatory, and hypoglycemic actions. Since it has been well-established that fatigue is closely related to depression, we used the tail suspension test (TST) in mice to examine the antidepressant-like effects of hot water extract (HWCS) and supercritical fluid extract (SCCS) of CS. Immobility time in the TST was reduced by administration of SCCS (2.5—10 ml/kg, p.o.) dose-dependently though it was not reduced by treatment with HWCS (500—2000 mg/kg, p.o.). Neither HWCS nor SCCS altered locomotor activity in the open field test, excluding the possibility that the effect of SCCS is due to activation of locomotion. Pretreatment with prazosin (an adrenoreceptor antagonist) or sulpiride (a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist) reduced the effect of SCCS on the immobility time. In contrast, pretreatment with p-chlorophenylalanine (p-CPA, a serotonin synthesis inhibitor) did not alter the anti-immobility effect of SCCS. The last finding is consistent with an additional observation that SCCS had no effect on head twitch response induced by 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan in mice. Taken altogether, these results suggest that SCCS may elicit an antidepressant-like effect by affecting the adrenergic and dopaminergic systems, but not by affecting the serotonergic system.

Key words Cordyceps sinensis; depression; tail suspension test; noradrenaline; dopamine

Here a picture from a mouse (or pika) that observed me with big eyes while I was first photographing and then digging out a Cordyceps at Kongpo Barla. Interestingly the fruiting body already had some gnawing traces. I hope the poor mouse managed to keep its tail up after seeing me stealing its yartsa gunbu.

Cordyceps interview with National Geographic Weekend

2011-04-15T22:36:00Z

When I was in Washington DC in late March to present on Cordyceps sustainability at the World Wildlife Fund headquarters "Cordyceps - Tibet's Golden Fungus: Bane or Blessing? I was also interviewed by Boyd Matson from National Geographic Weekend, a radio show.

The subject was, surprise! surprise! Caterpillar fungus. We talked about its role in Tibet, sustainability issues and its perceived and actual "potency". NG weekend was so kind to send me an edited ten minute audio file you can listen to here. I thought it is quite entertaining and informative, but I might be biased......

Daniel during an interview in Shunlung in April 2002

Mushroom Cooking in Tibet Video

I produced my first video for Youtube. It is on Kar Sha cooking. It shows how Meadow mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) are cooked the traditional way with tsampa, butter and salt. The caps are put gills up on the fire in Tibet. It also includes some nice landscape scenes from Kham as well. It is still a little rough, but at only 3 minutes not too torturous ;0}

I have much more video footage from my MushRoaming travels in Tibet [and Ecuador], but I am still very slow in editing, I really need a crash course to get all the great stuff out.

Shimpu du! Yummie!

New Article on Mushrooms in Bhutan

My article on Mushrooms in Bhutan entitled: Bhutan's Buddha Mushroom was finally published in Fungi (No.4.1). It describes then local mushroom markets, especially the Matsutake market and collection, deals with "Yartsa goenbub" - Cordyceps sinensis in Bhutan, and a range of other edibles favored by the Bhutanese.

Caterpillar Fungi from Ecuador's Rain Forest

2011-03-07T05:31:00Z

Got back this week from the MushRoaming Ecuador Tour I organized with Larry Evans. We all had great fun and learned a lot about the funga in the Amazon and many other interesting subjects related to ecology and culture. We are planing on offering another tour in early 2012 to Bolivia

Here a few new Cordyceps / Ophiocordyceps photos from specimen I found in the tropical forests of Ecuador, what an incredible place, what enormous biodiversity!

We found several Ophiocordyceps with bright red perithecia, looking quite similar and being closely related to Ophiocordyceps australis [formerly: Cordyceps australis].

Below an Ophiocordyceps on a weevil with a whole bunch of fruiting bodies growing out of it that is quite similar to Ophiocordyceps curculionium. However DNA analysis by Joey Spatafora, OSU Corvallis have shown that this is most likely a new species closely related to O. curulionium.

Close ups of the perithecia of Ophiocordyceps australis. What a great red these diminutive stromata display. The perithecia look close to maturity.

Below the fungus looks like a proper Ophiocordyceps australis, the most common pathogen in the neotropics. It infected a Conga ant (Paraponera sp.), which is one of the biggest ants in the Amazon. Fungus and ant measure about 12 to 15 cm (5 to 6 in). George Yager spotted the single stroma first, I thought it was a tiny red Mycena and was ready to move on, but Larry Evans recognized the Cordyceps.

This ant was tiny, it measured only 1.2 cm (0.5 in) and you can imagine how small the fruiting body is. I only found it when I was taking multiple pictures of another O. australis and saw a tiny red spot down below.
I am not sure if this is a specimen of Ophiocordyceps australis itself, the red fertile tissue of the fruiting body is less rounded than the typical O. australis.

Note the white growths on the hind leg. They look like conidiomata, which produce spore-like conidia. Conidia are asexual spores, basically reproductive cell clones. Often Cordyceps are only reproducing through conidia. A fungal organism that only produces conidia is known as an anamorph. Anamorphs do not grow stromata or fruiting bodies, only teleomorphs do. Usually lack of fruiting bodies makes identification of a Cordyceps much more difficult.

Near the Umbuni waterfalls I found this creature. At first there were just a few brightly orange stromata visible coming out of a decaying trunk, a favorite site for Cordyceps to direct its prey to dig in before kill off.

Once the fungus cum coleopteran [=beetle] larva was excavated this wild gestalt became visible:

According to Prof. Spatafora this fungus is a member of Metacordyceps. However, these species seem to acquire hyperparasites quite easily, making the collection of molecular data difficult. A possible name for this morphology is Metacordyceps martialis.

Another Cordyceps, according to Joey Spatafora, OSU mycologist and Cordyceps expert, possibly a Metacordyceps, "Joey wrote: "There are a number of Asian species with this overall morphology (e.g. M. liangshanesis) but I do not know of anything from South America." Here a recent article on the taxonomic status of Metacordyceps, one of the authors being Joey Spatafora.
White fertile stroma tissue is not too common. It is growing on a lepidopteran larva that was also buried in a decaying trunk. Check out the white perithecia.

Close up of the stroma

Cordyceps from Mindo, western slope of the Andes

Below a Cordyceps anamorph that could be Isaria tenuipes, a.k.a. Paecilomyces tenuipes, but there are also other morphologically similar anamorphs. We found it in on trunk near Mindo.

An Ophiocordyceps/ Cordyceps I found in Mindo, sitting on top of an decaying, moss covered trunk. The site was in the cloud forest on the western slope of the Andes in Ecuador. I will try to find out if has been described already.

Close ups of the perithecia of this Ophiocordyceps.

And finally an unidentified Cordyceps relative we found on the wall in our hobbit-style guest house in Mindo. Just wouldn't find a Cordyceps on your wall if it was an upper class hotel, right?

First uploaded 3-6-2011, last update 11-30-2011

New Drug derived from (Ophio-) Cordyceps sinensis

2011-02-04T03:01:00Z

It took me four months to finally add a new entry here yesterday - I spend much more time on my web pages at www.MushRoaming.com - and today this comes through the news ticker:

Himalayan Fungus Aids Mitsubishi Tanabe Sales With Multiple Sclerosis Drug
written by Kanoko Matsuyama in Tokyo for Bloombergs.

Apparently, Gilenya, as it is marketed by Novartis, a new promising Multiple Sclerosis drug has been developed from Cordyceps sinensis. Twenty five years ago the researcher Tetsuro Fujita had the idea to use Cordyceps since it must suppress the immune system of the ghost moths it feeds on in the Highlands of Tibet and the Himalayas.

We do not know if any real Cordyceps is used as raw material, but the price of a monthly dose of $3000 could suggest that, however pharmaceutical companies probably would charge the same amount if the base was regular straw and the patients in dire need. The analysts are hearing the cash registers ringing out loud . It is speculated that they might make soon 5 billion a year in global annual sales and make it under the top ten drugs, no not most expensive, just highest grossing drugs.

The article mentions the meaning of the Chinese and Japanese name of Cordyceps as "Winter worm, summer plant", in Chinese it is cao = grass, but fails to mention that these names are translations of the original Tibetan name Yartsa gunbu "summer grass, winter worm". It would have been nice if Tibetan medicine gets the credit it deserves, since it was first used in Tibet. And also its first record dates to the late 15th century doctor Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje. And what about not only a credit to the roots of this medicinal, but to Tibetan Medicine for having discovered the medicinal value of this weird organism? And once in the dream state, what about a slice of Mitsubishi Tanabe & Novartis pharma profit pie for the further development of Tibetan medicine?

Image of Cordyceps subsessilis from D. Shimizu and K. Kobayashi 1997. Illustrated Vegetable Wasps and Plant Worms in Colour, Tokyo.

Interestingly, no mentioning in the article of Ciclosporin, another famous drug that has been developed from Cordyceps, but another species Cordyceps subsessilis. Ciclosporin, is used to suppress immune reaction after organ transplants, a procedure not possible without immuno-suppression. It was originally derived from Tolypocladium inflatum and only later recognized as the true anamorph [meaning an asexually often mold like state] of C. subsessilis by Cornell mycologist Kathy Hodge and others.

Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje in a contemporary Yartsa Gunbu Thangka:

The Men-tsee-khang webpage reports about Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje

Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorjee was born to Rigzin Phuntsok and the daughter of Kunkyen Tashi Namgyal in the Earth Sheep year. He learned Buddhist philosophy and medicine from many renowned scholars and, at the age of 16, he wrote Manngag-Jewa-Ringsel (Pith Instructions, Relics in Crores, [better translated as "Instructions on a Myriad of Medicines"]) and many other treatises. He was the founder of the Zurlug tradition of Tibetan medicine. Later, his grandson Zurkhar Lodoe Gyalpo wrote a commentary on rGyud-bzhi called Mepoi Zallung (Oral Instructions of my Forefathers).