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Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, commonly known as zombie-ant fungus, [2] is an insect-pathogenic fungus, discovered by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in 1859, Zombie ants, infected by the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus, are predominantly found in tropical rainforests.
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] The generic name Cordyceps is derived from the ancient Greek κορδύλη kordýlē, meaning "club", and the Latin-ceps, meaning "-headed". [3]
Entomopathogenic fungi are parasitic unicellular or multicellular microorganisms belonging to the kingdom of Fungi, that can infect and seriously disable or kill insects. Entomopathogenicity is not limited to a particular class of fungi and is found in six divisions in the fungal kingdom (Ascomycota, Oomycetes, Basidiomycota, Chytridiomycota ...
Ophiocordyceps sinensis (synonym Cordyceps sinensis), known colloquially as caterpillar fungus, is an entomopathogenic fungus (a fungus that grows on insects) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is mainly found in the meadows above 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau in Tibet and the Himalayan regions of Bhutan , India , and Nepal .
Ophiocordyceps is a genus of fungi within the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. [2] The widespread genus, first described scientifically by British mycologist Tom Petch in 1931, [3] contains about 140 species that grow on insects. [4] Anamorphic genera that correspond with Ophiocordyceps species are Hirsutella, Hymenostilbe, Isaria, Paraisaria, and ...
One example of a potent fungal animal pathogen are Microsporidia - obligate intracellular parasitic fungi that largely affect insects, but may also affect vertebrates including humans, causing the intestinal infection microsporidiosis. [77] Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, is transmitted by Ixodes ticks.
This fungus is parasitic and undergoes a number of stages within its life cycle, these include: infection, incubation, sporulation and mummification. Within each stage, this pathogen invades the host's body cells, utilising the insect's nutrients allowing it to take control over the brain just before the host's death. [3]
Microsporidia are a group of spore-forming unicellular parasites. These spores contain an extrusion apparatus that has a coiled polar tube ending in an anchoring disc at the apical part of the spore. [7] They were once considered protozoans or protists, but are now known to be fungi, [8] or a sister group to true fungi. [9]