Spores 2022
Dalton Simmons and Emily Magurean Spores Plausibility 30 November 2022 In the film, a woman is infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis after consuming an infected ant in her coffee. O. unilateralis is a fungus specifically found in insects, especially ants (Wichadakul et al., 2015). The ant obtained this fungus after contact with fungal spores. To infect the ant, the spores attach to its exoskeleton, penetrating the and gaining the ability to alter its behavior (Evans et al., 2011). Once infected, the fungus causes the ants to behave like “zombies” (Hughes et al., 2011). Infected ants exhibit random walking patterns, repeated convulsions, erratic wandering, and death grips on leaves (Hughes et al., 2011). This grip aids in the parasitic fungi’s reproduction and dispersal process (Hughes et al., 2011). To grip onto the leaves, the ants use their mandibles to clamp onto and deeply penetrate the veins of the leaves (Hughes et al., 2011). In the film, the infected woman attempts to perform this death grip on her husband, but he ultimately escapes with just a bite. However, he will soon be infected to as the bite introduced the fungus into his body. O. unilateralis can gain more genes via horizontal gene transfer, which ultimately allows it to exploit more hosts (Zhang et al., 2019). Because humans share nearly 50% of their DNA with fungi, there was a horizontal gene transfer that allowed O. unilateralis to exploit humans as a host (Young and Raphelson, 2019). The infected ant in the film contained a strain of O. unilateralis with the ability to infect a human host. After consuming the ant, the spores were released in the woman’s body. The horizontal gene transfer allowed the spores to produce metabolites that could evade the human immune system and infect human tissues (Wichadakul et al., 2015). References: Evans et al. 2011. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. Comm Integr Biol 4(5): 598-602. doi: 10.4161/cib.4.5.16721. Hughes et al. 2011. Behavioral mechanisms and morphological symptoms of zombie ants and dying from fungal infection. BMC Ecol 11(13). DOI: 10.1186/1472-6785-11-13. Wichadakul et al. 2015. Insights from the genome of Ophiocordyceps polyrhachisfurcata to pathogenicity and host specificity in insect fungi. BMC Gen 16(881). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-2101-4. Young, R. and S. Raphelson. One mycologist on why fungi are ‘critical for the survival of life on this planet.’ WBUR. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/01/28/mushrooms-fungi-disease-bees. Zhang et al. 2019. Horizontal gene transfer allowed the emergence of broad host range entomopathogens. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116(16): 798-7989. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1816430116.
Dalton Simmons and Emily Magurean Spores Plausibility 30 November 2022 In the film, a woman is infected with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis after consuming an infected ant in her coffee. O. unilateralis is a fungus specifically found in insects, especially ants (Wichadakul et al., 2015). The ant obtained this fungus after contact with fungal spores. To infect the ant, the spores attach to its exoskeleton, penetrating the and gaining the ability to alter its behavior (Evans et al., 2011). Once infected, the fungus causes the ants to behave like “zombies” (Hughes et al., 2011). Infected ants exhibit random walking patterns, repeated convulsions, erratic wandering, and death grips on leaves (Hughes et al., 2011). This grip aids in the parasitic fungi’s reproduction and dispersal process (Hughes et al., 2011). To grip onto the leaves, the ants use their mandibles to clamp onto and deeply penetrate the veins of the leaves (Hughes et al., 2011). In the film, the infected woman attempts to perform this death grip on her husband, but he ultimately escapes with just a bite. However, he will soon be infected to as the bite introduced the fungus into his body. O. unilateralis can gain more genes via horizontal gene transfer, which ultimately allows it to exploit more hosts (Zhang et al., 2019). Because humans share nearly 50% of their DNA with fungi, there was a horizontal gene transfer that allowed O. unilateralis to exploit humans as a host (Young and Raphelson, 2019). The infected ant in the film contained a strain of O. unilateralis with the ability to infect a human host. After consuming the ant, the spores were released in the woman’s body. The horizontal gene transfer allowed the spores to produce metabolites that could evade the human immune system and infect human tissues (Wichadakul et al., 2015). References: Evans et al. 2011. Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. Comm Integr Biol 4(5): 598-602. doi: 10.4161/cib.4.5.16721. Hughes et al. 2011. Behavioral mechanisms and morphological symptoms of zombie ants and dying from fungal infection. BMC Ecol 11(13). DOI: 10.1186/1472-6785-11-13. Wichadakul et al. 2015. Insights from the genome of Ophiocordyceps polyrhachisfurcata to pathogenicity and host specificity in insect fungi. BMC Gen 16(881). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-2101-4. Young, R. and S. Raphelson. One mycologist on why fungi are ‘critical for the survival of life on this planet.’ WBUR. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2019/01/28/mushrooms-fungi-disease-bees. Zhang et al. 2019. Horizontal gene transfer allowed the emergence of broad host range entomopathogens. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116(16): 798-7989. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1816430116.