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Genome survey uncovers the secrets of sex and lifestyle in caterpillar fungus
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  • Published: 20 June 2013

Genome survey uncovers the secrets of sex and lifestyle in caterpillar fungus

  • Xiao Hu1,
  • YongJie Zhang2,
  • GuoHua Xiao1,
  • Peng Zheng1,
  • YongLiang Xia1,
  • XingYu Zhang3,
  • Raymond J. St Leger4,
  • XingZhong Liu3 &
  • …
  • ChengShu Wang1 

Chinese Science Bulletin volume 58, pages 2846–2854 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis (best known as Cordyceps sinensis) mummifies ghost moth larvae exclusively in Tibetan Plateau alpine ecosystems. Touted as “Himalayan Viagra”, the fungus is highly prized due to its medical benefits and dwindling supplies. Attempts to culture the sexual fruiting-body have failed and the huge market demand has led to severe devastation of local ecosystems and to the fungus heading towards extinction. By genome sequencing, we establish that unlike related insect pathogens O. sinensis contains two compatible mating-type genes in its genome and is self-fertile, i.e. homothallic. However, sexual processes are only initiated under native environmental conditions. O. sinensis resembles biotrophic plant pathogens in having a genome shaped by retrotransposon-driven expansions. The resulting changes in gene content suggest that O. sinensis has a biphasic pathogenic mechanism beginning with stealth pathogenesis in early host instars. O. sinensis is the first psychrophilic fungus sequenced and is adapted to extreme cold with putative antifreeze proteins and mechanisms for increasing lipid accumulation and fatty acid unsaturation. We hypothesize that for the inbreeding O. sinensis the massive proliferation of retrotransposons provides a tradeoff between the advantages of increased genetic variation independent of sexual recombination and deletion of genes dispensable for its specialized pathogenic lifestyle.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Xiao Hu, GuoHua Xiao, Peng Zheng, YongLiang Xia & ChengShu Wang

  2. School of Life Sciences, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

    YongJie Zhang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    XingYu Zhang & XingZhong Liu

  4. Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Raymond J. St Leger

Authors
  1. Xiao Hu
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  2. YongJie Zhang
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  3. GuoHua Xiao
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  4. Peng Zheng
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  5. YongLiang Xia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to ChengShu Wang.

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These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Cite this article

Hu, X., Zhang, Y., Xiao, G. et al. Genome survey uncovers the secrets of sex and lifestyle in caterpillar fungus. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58, 2846–2854 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5929-5

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  • Received: 24 February 2013

  • Accepted: 21 May 2013

  • Published: 20 June 2013

  • Issue Date: August 2013

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5929-5

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Keywords

  • Ophiocordyceps sinensis
  • genome expansion
  • homothallism
  • biotrophic parasitism
  • psychrophile
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