Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
| Ophiocordyceps unilateralis | |
|---|---|
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| Dead ants infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Sordariomycetes |
| Order: | Hypocreales |
| Family: | Ophiocordycipitaceae |
| Genus: | Ophiocordyceps |
| Species: | O. unilateralis |
| Binomial name | |
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Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (Tul.) Petch (1931) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Torrubia unilateralis Tul. (1865) |
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Torrubia unilateralis Tul. (1865)
Cordyceps unilateralis (Tul.) Sacc. (1883)
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is an entomopathogen, or insect-pathogenising fungus, discovered by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859, and currently found predominantly in tropical forest ecosystems. O. unilateralis, also referred to as a zombie fungus, infects ants of the Camponotini tribe, with the full pathogenesis being characterized by alteration of the behavioral patterns of the infected ant. Infected hosts leave their canopy nests and foraging trails for the forest floor, an area with a temperature and humidity suitable for fungal growth; they then use their mandibles to affix themselves to a major vein on the underside of a leaf, where the host remains until its eventual death. The process leading to mortality takes 4–10 days, and includes a reproductive stage where fruiting bodies grow from the ant's head, rupturing to release the fungus's spores. O. unilateralis is in turn also susceptible to fungal infection itself, an occurrence which can limit its impact on ant populations, which has otherwise been known to devastate ant colonies.
O. unilateralis and related species are known to engage in an active secondary metabolism, among other reasons, for the production of substances active as antibacterial agents that protect the fungus-host ecosystem against further pathogenesis during fungal reproduction. Because of this secondary metabolism, an interest in the species has been taken by natural products chemists, with corresponding discovery of small molecule agents (e.g. of the polyketide family) of potential interest for use as human immunomodulatory, antiinfective, and anticancer agents.
The scientific name is sometimes written Ophiocordyceps unilateralis sensu lato, which means "in the broad sense". This is because the species is actually a complex of many species within O. unilateralis.
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