Uses and results [edit]
Some species of the genus Cordyceps contain substances with biological and pharmacological properties of interest, such as cordycepin. kind Cordyceps subsessilis (Tolypocladium inflatum) is a raw material for the production of the immunosuppressant cyclosporine.
In Chinese traditional medicine, it is considered a tonic, aphrodisiac, and anti-aging agent. Also (along with the dead bodies of the insect hosts of the parasite) it is part of some Chinese dishes.
The great popularity of the product in China arose after the victory in 1993 of two Chinese athletes in track and field, allegedly using cordyceps. At the moment, there are no medical studies proving the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of this product. Due to the high demand in the Chinese market and the cost reaching 25 thousand € per 1 kg in 2008, the market was flooded with imitations and fakes of other types of cordyceps, including poisonous species that cause severe poisoning. China 2012 National Olympic Table Tennis Team Adviser Guo Yuehua and head coach of the Fujian provincial team said that China won the gold in the team championship thanks to the active use of cordyceps.
Hallucinogenicity of ophioglossid cordyceps
Cordyceps is related to ergot, which is clearly visible in the fruiting bodies. In the stroma of Cordyceps ophioglossus during the breeding season, ergotamine is contained, the concentration of which is quite sufficient to cause an ergotism-like psychotropic reaction after the fungus enters the human body.
When consumed, ergotinine provokes prolonged smooth muscle spasms and severe pain. In addition, when poisoning occurs, a mental disorder occurs, hallucinations occur, aggressive behavior manifests itself, and cataracts may develop. When large doses of ergotimine enter the body, a person will suffer painful death.
There are two forms of ergotism:
• Convulsive is characterized by severe pain, convulsions, convulsions, dizziness, stupor and coma;
• Gangrenous, or "Anthony's fire", "St. Anthony's fire", "sacred fire" is accompanied by a violation of the structure and function of the tissue, which occurs due to narrowing of the capillaries in the limbs.
The peculiarity of ergot alkaloids is their resistance to heat treatment, so the toxicity persists even after boiling and roasting the mushrooms. With ergotism, other unpleasant additional symptoms also occur: diarrhea, nausea, muscle pain, increased blood pressure, tachycardia, heart problems, weakness in the legs, impaired pulsation in the limbs.
Other mushrooms of this genus
Cordyceps ophioglossous has an affinity with the well-known medicinal cordyceps armed. The peculiarity of these fungi is that they parasitize in the pupae of butterflies and caterpillars.
In culture
- In Game The last of us the mutated cordyceps caused the zombie apocalypse.
- In the book by author Michael Carey, Pandora's Gifts, a fungus has led to a pandemic, turning most of the population into mindless zombies.
- In the book of the Russian science fiction writer Alexander Rudazov "Trapper" there is a chapter dedicated to the meeting of the protagonist with a parasitic fungus that affects the human nervous system on the fictional planet Lorelei. Once in the human body, the fungus makes his body physically attractive to the opposite sex, but replaces the nervous system with itself, turning a person into a zombie. In the book, this organism is called "Lorelei Cordyceps."
- In the film "New Era Z", the cordyceps affecting the human brain caused a pandemic that led to the zombie apocalypse.
Description of cordyceps ophioglossiform
The analogue of the fruiting body, called the stroma, has an elongated shape. Its height reaches 10 centimeters. The stroma comes from a truffle-like fungus that grows underground, that is, cordyceps parasitizes the underground fungus. The stroma is most often single, less often branched, consisting of 2-5 processes.
There is a characteristic flattened-clavate expansion at the end of the stroma. Spore-bearing expansion at a young age is yellow, but over time it becomes greenish or olive-brown, and sometimes reaches black. The stroma is attached to the host mushroom by cord-like thick rhizomorphs of bright yellow color. The diameter of the leg is 3-7 millimeters, its color is from green-olive to dark brown.
In the outer layer of the head there are perithecia, from which light-colored spores emerge during the fruiting period.
Places of growth of ophioglossus cordyceps
These fungi, as noted, parasitize other fungi - "deer truffles", which are located shallow underground or almost at the very surface. In this regard, cordyceps are common in places where "deer truffles" grow, namely, in mixed and coniferous forests. They can be found among green mosses and sometimes around swamps. These mushrooms are widespread throughout the forest zone of the Russian Federation. They bear fruit from June to October.
Edible cordyceps ophioglossid
These mushrooms are considered inedible because they are too harsh, odd looking and tasteless. And the Chinese eat them.
Description [edit]
Cordyceps is widespread in the world (the range corresponds to that of the insect hosts of this parasite). Nevertheless, the genus exhibits the greatest species diversity in tropical regions.
Some representatives of the genus received particular fame in connection with the influence on the behavior of insects on which they parasit, the most famous example is the one-sided cordyceps, parasitizing on ants.
Reproduction occurs by parasitizing on butterflies (more precisely, caterpillars), flies and ants. Spores that get on the hairy surface of the insect germinate and penetrate the insect's body. The insect or butterfly larva dies, and full-fledged hyphae of the cordyceps mycelium develops in the body.
