Tolypocladium ophioglossoides, also known by two of its better known synonyms Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides and Cordyceps ophioglossoides and commonly known as the goldenthread cordyceps,[5] is a species of fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is parasitic on fruit bodies of the truffle-like Elaphomyces. The specific epithet ophioglossoides, derived from Ancient Greek, means "like a snake's tongue".[6] The species is thought to be inedible[7] by people in the Western hemisphere, however, Traditional Chinese medicine of the Eastern Hemisphere recognizes T. ophioglossoides as a valuable medicinal fungi.
This species was first described in 1785 as Sphaeria ophioglossoides by German naturalist Jakob Friedrich Ehrhart.[8]
T. ophioglossoides fruits in late summer and fall, often under oak or pine trees because Elaphomyces, its host, prefers those tree species.[9] It falls under the morphological category of earth tongue fungi. Its geographical distribution is throughout the Northern Hemisphere, however it is locally uncommon.[9] Its sporocarps are 2-8 cm long, clavate and simple or rarely branched. Rhizomorphs attach the fruiting body to its host.[9]
T. ophioglossoides is used as an herbal remedy in Traditional Chinese medicine for relieving postmenopausal syndrome in women.[10][11][12] T. ophioglossoides is classified as a Traditional Chinese medicine of hot temperature, sharing phylogenetic branch, genetic material and habitat with other species classified as hot temperature Traditional Chinese medicines.[13] The mycelium of T. ophioglossoides may protect humans from Alzheimer's disease.[14] Production of intracellular polysaccharides in T. ophioglossoides may explain its medicinal antioxidant properties, used to fight menopause symptoms and neurodegenerative disease.[15]
T. ophioglossoides has also been used as a model organism to understand genetic mechanisms that drive transitions from parasitism on insects to truffles. In lab, secondary metabolite core genes are upregulated when T. ophioglossoides is grown on insect cuticle, but downregulated when T. ophioglossoides is grown on species in the genus Elaphomyces.[10]
Because of its beneficial medicinal properties, scientists have begun to conduct research on the genes of T. ophioglossoides to understand secondary metabolite synthesis. T. ophioglossoides produces most notably peptaibiotics and balanol.
T. ophioglossoides produces peptaibiotics via nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). Peptaibiotics have antibiotic and antifungal properties.[16]
T. ophioglossoides also produces balanol, a protein kinase inhibitor which inhibits cancer cells from growing in humans[17] and affects other human disease states, including central nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, asthma and HIV. T. ophioglossoides has been cultured with genetic modification to produce balanol at higher concentrations.[11]
A novel nontoxic form of arsenic called Arsenocholine-O-sulfate has been found within the body of T. ophioglossoides in significant amounts. The functionality of Arsenocholine-O-Sulfate in T. ophioglossoides is unknown. It is unclear whether T. ophioglossoides takes up Arsenocholine-O-Sulfate as a byproduct of uptaking choline-O-sulfate, a compound used as for sulfate storage and as an osmolyte, whether it takes up AC-O-Sulfate for a biological function, or whether it synthesizes Arsenocholine-O-Sulfate internally (Braeuer et al 2016.)[18].
Tolypocladium ophioglossoides, also known by two of its better known synonyms Elaphocordyceps ophioglossoides and Cordyceps ophioglossoides and commonly known as the goldenthread cordyceps, is a species of fungus in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It is parasitic on fruit bodies of the truffle-like Elaphomyces. The specific epithet ophioglossoides, derived from Ancient Greek, means "like a snake's tongue". The species is thought to be inedible by people in the Western hemisphere, however, Traditional Chinese medicine of the Eastern Hemisphere recognizes T. ophioglossoides as a valuable medicinal fungi.
