Essay about Cordyceps

Cordyceps are entomopathogenic fungi that make up the majority of the Kingdom Fungi. Entomopathogenic fungi are a group of fungal pathogens living in the soil that acts as a parasite to not only arthropods but, also, plants as well; these fungal parasites have spores that can manipulate the behavior of insects which, eventually, are killed or disabled.And, because of the co-existing interactions of Phylum Arthropoda and Kingdom Animalia that have lasted over 400 million years, various origins of this complex entomopathogenic habit arose over time due to the fungi needing a stable food source.Thus, cordyceps affect approximately 65% of all insect orders, which the greatest diversity that is affected can be found in tropical rainforests worldwide.

When these parasites affect insects, the insects develop an unbalanced walking and isolated and biting behavior. For example, in ants, when the colony senses that the affected is acting differently than them, they tend to isolate them from the group; eventually, the affected would leave from the colony, living on high treetops, to the ground floor level; then it initiates a “death lock,” which the ant bites hold of and dies on a leaf, and a stalk grows out from the dead ant. Thus, the spores from cordyceps act as a neurotoxin because it affects, or manipulates, the brain of the host. And, because the spores are successful in invading the host’s immune system, there is no clear immune system response or resistance to it.

In order for the cordyceps’ spores to affect susceptible hosts, it needs to have a direct transmission, or possibly an indirect transmission. When an affected ant has already latched and slowly dies on a leaf, a stalk grows out from the host’s body and will continue to grow until the fungus is ready to release spores; once the spores are released in the area, a susceptible host will either have direct contact with the dead host or encountered these spores through airborne or ingestion; then, the spores will travel through the body and land onto the brain, which these fungal cells will grow and secrete neurotoxins to take control of the central nervous system.

During this process, the hosts develop convulsions and unwilling to climb to a leaf at an optimal height in order to affect more susceptible hosts. And, because these fungal cells are continuing to grow, they grow into the host’s mandibular muscles, which will develop into a death grip from the host; then, post-mortem, a fungus stalk grows and releases spores to the area.

Because cordyceps affect mostly insects, there are no treatments or vaccines developed for this disease, since it doesn’t affect humans. So, this is an ongoing problem for insects. But, because insects are constantly evolving within their environment, they developed a strategy to prevent cordyceps from affecting their colony. For example, in ants, the colony will work together to get rid of the affected ant; they will either isolate the affected from the rest of the colony, find other routes to avoid parasitic spores, or cut off the mandibles of the affected to prevent the death grip and growth of the fungus stalk. And, because these funguses cannot be totally eradicated, eventually, the evolution of insects will help in the long run because they could possibly develop an immune response and/or resistance to these spores.

So, cordyceps couldn’t cause a zombie apocalypse in the future because it affects mostly insects and evolution will find its way to combat this disease among insects. And, also, it clearly doesn’t affect humans. But, if it were to affect humans, in order to become a susceptible host for cordyceps, the human DNA needs to be similar to the fungus DNA, the human’s immune system response has to be very, very weak, and acquire a very low body temperature.