FP TrendingDecember 18, 2020 10:01:15 IST
Scientists have discovered two new species of fungi that infest flies, create a hole in their abdomen and then spore out the flies. According to researchers at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences of the University of Copenhagen and the Danish Museum of Natural History, both species of fungi have been found in the Danish capital, with Strongwellsea tigrinae, found in Jægerspris and Strongwellsea acerosa, on Amager. Both of these fungi produce two species of Danish fly – Coenosia tigrina and Coenosia testacea.
The results of the research were published in the Journal of Invertebrate Pathology.
The fly species Coenosia tigrina with two large holes in the abdomen. The holes are an infectious effect of the fungus Strongwellsea tigrinae. The infectious spores are released through these holes. Image credit: University of Copenhagen
After the host bodies are introduced, the flies roam around for days while fungal spores are released into the air from the holes and move on to new victims. The fungi receive nutrients from the inside of the back part of the flies’ body up to the end. After a few days of infection, the flies lie on their backs and continue to suffer from spasms until they die.
Commenting on the finding, Professor Jørgen Eilenberg from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences said that it is an interesting and bizarre part of biodiversity that they have discovered, in addition, that this is a basic new knowledge that may form the basis for experimental studies of infectious pathways.
As the authors of the study said, the ability of the fungi to keep flies fresh enough to go around for days while eaten from the inside has boosted profits among researchers that the fungi produce substances that target the hosts. Researchers believe that the fungi could make amphetamine-like substances that keep the fly’s energy level up to the end, while at the same time, the fungi could make products that keep microorganisms -organisms away from fly fungi. According to Eilenberg, these findings could be a pathway for research enabling the use of these substances in medicine.
According to researchers, both of these species of flies that exhibit the fungal disease survive by preying on other flies.