Hello everyone! Welcome back to another post on The Fun(guy) Blog! This week’s fungus is slightly different from the ones I have written about so far but is by far one of the most interesting fungal species I have come across – Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, more popularly known as the “zombie fungus”. I first read about Ophiocordyceps unilateralis in a book titled “Entangled Life” by Merlin Sheldrake for my microbiology class this semester. I thought it was a rather unique fungus that lives around us but slips our sights.
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis walks among us – through ants hijacked by this parasitic fungus that controls its every move. The zombie fungus’s only goal is to self-propagate and disperse. This is nothing more than just a survival mechanism fo the fungus as it can only thrive at a certain temperature, humidity, location, and distance from the surface of the ground but can’t do the work needed to get to these conditions on its own. This leads the fungus to hijack the ant’s body and inhabit it.
The hijacking of an ant’s body by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a includes multiple, intricate stages. First, the fungus releases its spores into the air which is carried through it until it reaches an ant. The spores then attach themselves to the cuticle of the ant and produce digestive enzymes to break the exoskeleton and enter the insect. Now, the fungus gets busy taking control of the ant’s body. It starts to secrete certain toxins that disrupt the ant’s chemical communication system. This causes the ant to exhibit abnormal behavior and forces the ant to leave its nest to climb up a tree stalk about twenty-five centimeter above ground level which is coincidentally the height at which the fungus flourishes. The fungus then forces the ant to find its way to the north side of the plant where the level of humidity is about ninety-five percent and there is maximum exposure to sunlight. The fungus finally compels the ant to perform a “death bite” on a leaf causing the ant to die. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis then feeds on the dead ant to gain the nutrients it requires. A few days later, it emerges from the dead ant’s head and releases more spores to infect new and unsuspecting ants.
What is interesting is that the ants have developed a mechanism to prevent the healthy ants in their nests from getting infected by the fungus. They use “social immunity” to tackle the problems caused by the fungus. To prevent their entire colony from getting infected, the healthy ants forcibly remove the infected ants from their nest. This also explains why the fungus chooses a higher ground level to release its spores – to infect ants from different colonies. It is also interesting to note that the fungus does not invade the brains of the ants. Instead, it invades their entire bodies. It’s like the fungus is a puppeteer and the ants are its puppets.
I had never heard of an organism that uses manipulation to fulfil the only purpose of its being – living. It is fascinating how every living thing on our planet has developed ways to survive in a world filled with harsh conditions for almost every species.
Here is a video I found on how Ophiocordyceps unilateralis takes over an ant’s body:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vijGdWn5-h8
I hope you enjoyed reading this week’s post as much as I enjoyed writing it!
This is amazing, and also a little terrifying! I’ve never been so happy to not be an ant! It’s so fascinating that Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is able to essentially control the infected ant’s every move without attacking it’s brain, and equally impressive that the ant colonies have learned to protect themselves by forcing the ants out of the colony. I am also so impressed by the fact that it can travel so far, and I admittedly am wondering if we humans have ever come in contact with this fungus, but we just aren’t affected for some biological reason. I also didn’t know that fungi could behave parasitically, which is good (and also a little scary) to know! I’m curious as to how scientists discover these different types of fungi and release the effect that they have on other organisms. The behavior of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis reminds me a little bit of that of a virus; I wonder if there’s any other kinds of overlap between the two! As always, I can’t wait to read about next week’s fungus! 🙂
This is one crazy fungus! I had no idea that there existed a fungus that could take over an ant’s body— that is both super super cool and supper supper terrifying! I had never imagined that fungus could be that powerful, but as I have learned the past couple of weeks, fungus is a major player in revolving the world’s ecosystems and, apparently, can even take over ant’s!!
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a really scary fungus! The fact that zombification actually exists in this world baffles me. I just hope that it doesn’t evolve to turn humans into puppets. It is very interesting how each organism adapts due to natural selection. From all of your past fungi blogs, I was really excited to see how people are starting to use various fungi as alternative resources and medicines to benefit humanity. However after reading this blog post, I really hope that humans do not take notes from this fungus because I would rather not be part of a zombie apocalypse.