The Entomopathogen Cordyceps

[Charles Gavette]

 Yes, Soowon Cho, it is good to see that others are posting who are
interested in natural medicine sources. I am an amateur interested in plants
and fungi.
  
   "Cordyceps sinensis is the fungus currently recognized in China. It grows
on the caterpillar larvae of insects belonging to the order Lepidoptera,
especially the moth species Hepialus armoricanus Obertheir. The thread-like
ascospores are released from asci during the summer months, before
segmenting into part-spores. Each part-spore may 
germinate when landing on a suitable host. The germ-tube penetrates into the
larva, entering the circulatory system. Once the larva has gone underground
the fungus proliferates by yeast-like budding until the larva is killed. The
mycelium is formed and the body of the larva becomes sclerotioid to
withstand the winter. As the slerotium develops, the inner organs of the
larva are destroyed, leaving the exoskeleton intact.
 
   The fungus is collected during the summer months when the stroma emerges
from the sclerotium, i.e., the larval body. The stroma apex emerges above
ground level, amongst leaf litter or grass, often from the soft soil under
trees. About 35 species of Cordyceps have been found in China. Some have
been used as an alternative to the 'Caterpillar Fungus' 
tonic, e.g., C. barnesii Thwaites ex Berk. & Broome on beetle larvae of
Lamellicornia, and C. militaris(L : Fr.)Link on pupae of Lepidoptera.
However, Cordyceps sinensis growing on Hepialus armoricanus, found in
Sichuan Province, is said to be the best in quality although this species
has also been found in Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai and Yunnan Provinces. Much
effort by several groups in China has been made in recent years to culture
the fungus and other species of Cordyceps, and to determine their medicinal
properties. Success in pure culture or growing the fungus through the
suitable larva can be expected in the near future." (The Chinese
'Caterpillar Fungus,' D.N. Pegler, Y.J. Yao, and Y. Li, Mycologist,
February, 1994, V.8, Pt. 1, p. 3).
 
   Actually, the first successful completion of the Cordyceps life cycle on
semi-defined media occured in 1911, when the Sopp, a Norwegian, first
obtained stroma(fruit bodies) in the laboratory on colustrum. As far back as
1949, and then again recently, several Japanese workers obtained 
stroma by artificial inoculation of pupae. It seems that a Cordyceps strain
from Tibet has been chosen in the first large-scale production of the
compounds from Cordyceps for the current world market. This new industry is
claiming that their product is superior because it is 'purer,' being grown
under controlled conditions. On the other hand, as Pegler, Yao, and Li
state:.."Because the whole 'Caterpillar Fungus' is used, not just the
fungus, it is possible that other resident micro-organisms may also play a
role in the medicinal effect."
 
   There is a paradox. Any outbreak of Cordyceps in the butterfly house may
be more of a blessing than a curse. The Chinese ideogram is the same for
both "crisis" and "opportunity." Cordyceps as a medicine has a long
tradition in TCM, and is a clinically proven medicine(see Medline). I 
think that once one has seen what it can do, they will see why it has always
carried a 'royal medicine' theme with its use and mention, and in 1736 its
cost was more than four times its weight in silver. Unduly putting a high
price on something, though, or making it 'scarce,' can backfire. There is a
treatise by a 17th century Chinese pysician that 
warns of the dangers of ginseng, in that he had seen the price of it
increase ten-fold during his lifetime, engendering treachery, greed and
poverty.  
 
   The Chinese are not without their competitive side, for if one looks
closely, they will see that there is a vying for the 'best' Cordyceps
between provinces. C. yunnanensis vs. ? Which leads me to my point: European
physicians visiting early America were both fascinated and appalled to see
both our awesome medicinal plant wealth, and our ignorance and apathy about
it. In North America, while we are focusing on the 'exotic,' from Asia, from
South America, from Europe, our knowledge of our own Cordyceps species may
flounder just as it has done with our medicinal plants. Undoubtedly, a few
more new species will be described from N.A.
 
   So, this is something that we can add to our field studies. If anyone has
access to the very early volumes (or microfilm) of the journal Mycologia,
one can read of the American Cordyceps pioneer, E. B. Mains. I hope to be
adding to this Cordyceps file with references as I come across them. This is
interesting: To grow a host plant that it also a medicinal, and obtain
butterflies or moths, while at the same time, in addition, have the option
of obtaining one of the four traditional Chinese tonic medicines that in
1993 was used to prove for the first time ever, and scientifically, that
HIV/AIDS is a reversible disease. 






_______________________________________________________
Get your free, private email at http://mail.excite.com/