Psychoactive plant- and mushroom-associated alkaloids from two behavior modifying cicada pathogens
OpenAlex – July 24, 2018
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Cicadas infected with a parasitic fungus are dosed with powerful psychoactive drugs. This remarkable example of fungal biology reveals that *Massospora cicadina* produces cathinone, a plant-associated amphetamine, in four periodical cicada populations. Annual cicadas, meanwhile, are infected with a different *Massospora* species producing psilocybin, a compound often explored in Psychedelics and Drug Studies. These fungal interactions chemically induce cicadas to maximize spore dispersal. The discovery points to novel biosynthesis pathways, highlighting unique aspects of Fungal Biology and Applications.
Abstract
Abstract Entomopathogenic fungi routinely kill their hosts before releasing infectious spores, but select species keep insects alive while sporulating, which enhances dispersal. Transcriptomics and metabolomics studies of entomopathogens with post-mortem dissemination from their parasitized hosts have unraveled infection processes and host responses, yet mechanisms underlying active spore transmission by Entomophthoralean fungi in living insects remain elusive. Here we report the discovery, through metabolomics, of the plant-associated amphetamine, cathinone, in four Massospora cicadina -infected periodical cicada populations, and the mushroom-associated tryptamine, psilocybin, in annual cicadas infected with Massospora platypediae or Massospora levispora , which appear to represent a single fungal species. The absence of some fungal enzymes necessary for cathinone and psilocybin biosynthesis along with the inability to detect intermediate metabolites or gene orthologs are consistent with possibly novel biosynthesis pathways in Massospora . The neurogenic activities of these compounds suggest the extended phenotype of Massospora that modifies cicada behavior to maximize dissemination is chemically-induced.