In the video game and TV series
The Last of Us, the cordyceps parasite jumps from just infecting insects to humans, causing them to turn into zombies. It was first discovered in Indonesia before spreading worldwide. The Last of Us may be just fiction, but in Sabah, researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) have discovered a hyperparasite of cordyceps that is more resilient than usual.
Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata – UMS
The hyperparasite Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata was found in the Belum Valley by researchers from the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah on the carcasses of ants infected with the Ophiocordyceps parasite. Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata infects the Ophiocordyceps parasite that has already infected the ants. It is a parasite that infects the parasite that controls the ants that have now become zombies.
Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata is not the first hyperparasite, but it is the first of its genus to have the horn structure that is often associated with the cordyceps fungus.
The study was published in the journal Phytotaxa last April.
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