True Facts: Killer Parasitic Zombie Fungi

Go to https://brilliant.org/zefrank to get a 30-day free trial + the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual subscription. merch: https://ze-true-store.myshopify.com/ patreon: https://www.patreon.com/truefacts classical music: https://soundcloud.com/querflote/5-audio-track-1 sponsor music: https://incompetech.com/ Thanks to: Dr Carolyn Elya, Harvard Univ. Dr Charissa de Bekker, Utrecht Univ. Dr Maridel Fredericksen, Univ. of Basel Dr David Hughes, Pennsylvania State Univ. Dr John Cooley, Univ. of Connecticut Dr João Araújo, New York Botanical Garden Dr Michael Winding, Univ. of Cambridge Dr Henrik H. De Fine Licht, Univ. of Copenhagen Dr. Michael J. Raupp, Bug of the Week on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsnaXI7WF9wipPzOLy4OByg Dan Keck, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQCpADKtc64 Dr DeWei Li Citations Araújo JPM et al. Zombie-ant fungi cross continents: II. Myrmecophilous hymenostilboid species and a novel zombie lineage. Mycologia. 2020 Nov-Dec;112(6):1138-1170. doi: 10.1080/00275514.2020.1822093. Araújo JPM et al. Zombie-ant fungi across continents: 15 new species and new combinations within Ophiocordyceps. I. Myrmecophilous hirsutelloid species. Stud Mycol. 2018 Jun;90:119-160. doi: 10.1016/j.simyco.2017.12.002. Beckerson, WC. et al. 28 Minutes Later: A behavioural and transcriptomic investigation into the potential role of aflatrem-like compounds in establishing Ophiocordyceps extended phenotypes in zombie ants, bioRxiv - Animal Behavior and Cognition  2023-02-17 , DOI:10.1101/2022.09.08.507134 Cooley, J.R. et al, A specialized fungal parasite (Massospora cicadina) hijacks the sexual signals of periodical cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada). Sci Rep 8, 1432 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19813-0 de Bekker C et al, 2021. Mechanisms behind the madness: how do zombie-making fungal entomopathogens affect host behavior to increase transmission? mBio 12:e01872-21, https://doi.org/10.1128/ De Fine Licht, HH et al. Evolutionary ecology of an obligate and behaviorally manipulating insect- pathogenic fungus, Entomophthora muscae. Authorea. March 02, 2023. DOI: 10.22541/au.167778641.14505987/v1 de Ruiter J et al.. Fungal artillery of zombie flies: infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon. J R Soc Interface. 2019 Oct 31;16(159):20190448. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0448.  Elya C et al. Robust manipulation of the behavior of Drosophila melanogaster by a fungal pathogen in the laboratory. Elife. 2018 Jul 26;7:e34414. doi: 10.7554/eLife.34414. Fredericksen M.A et al. Three-dimensional visualization and a deep-learning model reveal complex fungal parasite networks in behaviorally manipulated ants, PNAS, November 7, 2017, 114 (47) 12590-12595, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1711673114 Hou Z, et al. Sexual pair-formation in a cicada mediated by acoustic behaviour of females and positive phonotaxis of males. Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 25;7(1):6453. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06825-5. Hu, T. et al, AntVis: A web-based visual analytics tool for exploring ant movement data, Visual Informatics, Volume 4, Issue 1, 2020, Pages 58-70, ISSN 2468-502X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.visinf.2020.02.001. Hughes DP et al. Behavioral mechanisms and morphological symptoms of zombie ants dying from fungal infection. BMC Ecol. 2011 May 9;11:13. doi: 10.1186/1472-6785-11-13.  Hughes DP, Libersat F. Neuroparasitology of Parasite-Insect Associations. Annu Rev Entomol. 2018 Jan 7;63:471-487. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043234. Libersat F et al (2018) Mind Control: How Parasites Manipulate Cognitive Functions in Their Insect Hosts. Front. Psychol. 9:572. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00572 Loreto RG et al. Evidence for convergent evolution of host parasitic manipulation in response to environmental conditions. Evolution. 2018 Oct;72(10):2144-2155. doi: 10.1111/evo.13489.  Macias, Angie et al. (2020). Evolutionary relationships among Massospora spp. (Entomophthorales), obligate pathogens of cicadas. Mycologia. 112. 1-15. 10.1080/00275514.2020.1742033. Mangold CA, Hughes DP. Insect Behavioral Change and the Potential Contributions of Neuroinflammation-A Call for Future Research. Genes (Basel). 2021 Mar 24;12(4):465. doi: 10.3390/genes12040465.  Mangold CA, et al. Zombie ant death grip due to hypercontracted mandibular muscles. J Exp Biol. 2019 Jul 17;222(Pt 14):jeb200683. doi: 10.1242/jeb.200683.  Naundrup A et al, Pathogenic fungus uses volatiles to entice male flies into fatal matings with infected female cadavers. ISME J. 2022 Oct;16(10):2388-2397. doi: 10.1038/s41396-022-01284-x. Scheffer, Louis Ket et al (2020) A connectome and analysis of the adult Drosophila central brain eLife 9:e57443, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57443 Trinh, T et al, Getting lost: the fungal hijacking of ant foraging behaviour in space and time, Animal Behaviour, Volume 181, 2021, Pages 165-184, ISSN 0003-3472, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.09.003.