Bizarre fungus hijacks cicadas, transforming them into killer nymphomaniacs



The fungal parasite Massospora cicadina not only cohabits and transmogrifies the bodies of its hosts, but bends their will to its purposes, spreading death, destruction, and spores along the way.

While this might sound like some sort of a demonic possession, scientists have characterized the process by which such Entomophthoralean fungi — an order of fungi that takes its name from the ancient Greek words for "insect" and "destruction" — subvert host structures and behaviors for their own aims as the modification of host phenotypes.

Whereas Entomophthoralean fungi largely kill their hosts in order to disseminate its spores, Massospora cicadina keeps its host alive.

There are two types of Massospora cicadina infections. Cicadas with stage one infections produce spores capable of infecting other adult cicadas. Cicadas with stage two infections lay fungal traps for the next generation of cicadas that will emerge from the soil some 13 or 17 years later.

Up to 10% of both a 13-year brood and a 17-year brood will face the possibility of becoming "zombie insects" this year. The University of Connecticut's Biodiversity Research Collections Periodical Cicada Information website indicated that for the first time since 2015, a 13-year brood will emerge in the same year as a 17-year brood.

A study published in the peer-reviewed Nature journal Scientific Reports noted that infections cause "distention and loss of the terminal abdominal segments, genitalia included, in both sexes; the breached abdomen exposes infective spores and allows their dispersal."

One of the study's authors, Dr. John Cooley, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, Hartford, recently told CNN that when it comes to this fungal parasite, "the truth is actually much stranger than science fiction."

After an infected cicada's genitals and rear fall off, a white fungal plug bulges out in their place.

Matt Kasson, an associate professor of mycology and forest pathology at West Virginia University, told CNN, "It looks like there's a gumdrop that's been dropped in chalk dust, glued to the backside of these cicadas."

Some scientists have observed cicadas with stage one infections flying less often and opting instead to drag around their spore-laden abdomens, spreading spores and looking for potential victims. Cicadas with stage two infections apparently spend more time flying around, bombing spores from their corrupted abdomens.

Both sexes with stage one infections apparently become hypersexual in an effort to serve the parasite's purposes.

'So when they pull apart, guess what happens? Rip.'

Infected males try to maximize the victim coverage, exhibiting the wing-flick signaling-behavior "normally seen only in sexually receptive female cicadas" in an effort to trick other males into thinking they are females keen on copulating. By the time male victims realize their mate is not as advertised, it's often too late as the spores spread easily in close proximity.

Female cicadas are apparently incapable of identifying and avoiding infected males, so they too are at risk.

Cooley's study noted that "Massospora functions at least partly as a sexually transmitted disease and the novel behaviors of infected males are complex manipulations instigated by the fungus for its own benefit."

Deception is not the only way the infection is spread.

"Periodical cicadas have interlocking genitalia. So when they pull apart, guess what happens? Rip. And then there's a cicada walking around with someone else's genitals stuck to them," said Cooley. "And now the cicada that's infected is busted open."

Once "busted open," infected cicadas become what Kasson and others refer to as "saltshakers of death."

They fly around, flaking brown spores that threaten to infect the next brood.

Kasson and other scientists determined that infected cicadas are likely able to keep moving and mating despite their injuries because the fungus produces psychoactive compounds during infection. The first is a type of amphetamine, cathinone. The second is psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, in infected cicadas.

Cooley has, however, expressed uncertainty whether such drugs would affect the bugs in a similar manner as they do vertebrates.

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Researchers examine how fungus could be the food of the future, possibly replacing meat



Researchers have been on a quest to find the most sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to meat and other animal-based products. Nature Communications recently published a study that suggested our dystopian future could feature genetically engineered mold as a prime source of nutrition, according to the Debrief.

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reportedly led the study, and they demonstrated "how the edible fungus, Aspergillus oryzae, can be bioengineered to enhance its nutritional value and sensory appeal as a meat substitute."

Researchers were able to use synthetic biological tools to modify the fungus' genome, raising the production of key nutrients and flavor molecules, according to the study. The researchers said that their method brought the substance closer to mirroring the texture and taste of real meat.

The lab reported that fungi could be the future of our daily nutritional intake, as they include "a huge range of tasty and nutritious proteins, fats, antioxidants, and flavor molecules." Vayu Hill-Maini — a chef-turned-bioengineer — has been investigating the possibilities for new textures and tastes that can be produced by modifying the genes in fungi.

“I think it’s a fundamental aspect of synthetic biology that we’re benefiting from organisms that have evolved to be really good at certain things,” Hill-Maini said, who is a researcher at UC Berkeley in the lab of bioengineering expert Jay Keasling.

“What we’re trying to do is to look at what is the fungus making and try to kind of unlock and enhance it. And I think that’s an important angle that we don’t need to introduce genes from wildly different species. We’re investigating how we can stitch things together and unlock what’s already there.”

Keasling, a senior scientist at the Berkeley lab, said that "these organisms have been used for centuries to produce food, and they are incredibly efficient at converting carbon into a wide variety of complex molecules, including many that would be almost impossible to produce using a classic host like brewer’s yeast or E. coli.”

“By unlocking koji mold through the development of these tools, we are unlocking the potential of a huge new group of hosts that we can use to make foods, valuable chemicals, energy-dense biofuels, and medicines. It’s a thrilling new avenue for biomanufacturing.”

However, it is unclear how soon it could be before consuming fungus becomes a mainstay of our dystopian diet.

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CDC reports drug resistant fungus infections in Texas, Washington, DC



Health officials possess evidence of an untreatable fungus spreading in several facilities. The "superbug" outbreaks have been reported at a nursing home in the nation's capital and in two Texas hospitals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, according to the Associated Press.

Several individuals had infections, which were resistant to all three types of antifungal drugs, the outlet said.

"This is really the first time we've started seeing clustering of resistance" in which individuals appeared to be getting the infections from one another, Meghan Lyman of the CDC said, according to the outlet.

"The fungus, Candida auris, is a harmful form of yeast that is considered dangerous to hospital and nursing home patients with serious medical problems. It is most deadly when it enters the bloodstream, heart or brain. Outbreaks in health care facilities have been spurred when the fungus spread through patient contact or on contaminated surfaces," the AP reported.

In 2019, three cases were diagnosed in New York, and they were resistant to echinocandins, a class of medications that's regarded as a last form of defense, according to AP.

The outlet noted that in those instances there was no evidence of spread between patients, and scientists concluded that drug resistance developed amid treatment.

"The new cases did spread, the CDC concluded," according to the AP.

In the nation's capital, a cluster of 101 cases at a nursing home facility involved three that proved to be resistant to all three types of antifungal medications. Two out of 22 instances in two Dallas-area hospitals exhibited that amount of resistance, the AP noted.

These cases were observed from January to April and out of the five individuals who were totally resistant to treatment, three passed away, including the two patients in Texas and one in Washington, D.C.

"Lyman said both are ongoing outbreaks and that additional infections have been identified since April. But those added numbers were not reported," according to the AP.

Investigators examined medical records and uncovered no evidence of prior antifungal utilization among people in those clusters, according to the outlet. Health officials noted that this means there was spread between people, the AP noted.