Infected 'zombie ants' face no discrimination from nest mates

Carpenter ants infected with a specialized parasitic fungus are not subjected to aggression or isolation from their nest mates, and they continue to share in the colony's food resources until they leave the nest for the last ...

Male bees protect female bees from sexually transmitted diseases

A team of researchers from The University of Western Australia's Centre for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER) have discovered that the seminal fluid of male bees kills the widespread sexually transmitted fungus Nosema apis, ...

Symbiosis: enforced surrender?

Scientists from INRA and Lorraine University in France unraveled a key mechanism in the symbiosis between fungi and trees. During this mutually beneficial interaction, the fungus takes control of its host plant by injecting ...

Sexual reproduction only second choice for powdery mildew

Powdery mildew is one of the most dreaded plant diseases: The parasitic fungus afflicts crops such as wheat and barley and is responsible for large harvest shortfalls every year. Beat Keller and Thomas Wicker, both plant ...

Central America battles to save coffee from fungus

Central America is scrambling to contain a coffee-eating fungus that has invaded a third of the impoverished region's crops, threatening to cost the vital industry hundreds of millions of dollars.

Rare parasitic fungi could have anti-flammatory benefits

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered that a rare parasitic fungus that lives on hibernating caterpillars in Tibet could have a role to play in anti-inflammatory drugs for conditions such as asthma.

Nepal 'Himalayan Viagra' harvest droops to record low

Every summer, Himalayan villages empty as locals rush to the mountains of northern Nepal to harvest yarchagumba, a high-altitude wild fungus that is prized for its aphrodisiac qualities.

The zombie-ant fungus is under attack, research reveals

A parasite that fights the zombie-ant fungus has yielded some of its secrets to an international research team led by David Hughes of Penn State University. The research reveals, for the first time, how an entire ant colony ...

Zombie ants have fungus on the brain

Tropical carpenter ants (Camponotus leonardi) live high up in the rainforest canopy. When infected by a parasitic fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis) the behaviour of the ants is dramatically changed. They become erratic ...

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