HBO’s series The Last of Us, which deals with the events in the post-apocalyptic world left behind after a great disaster, seems to have changed our perspective on mushrooms. Adapted from the video game, the science fiction series about people’s struggle for survival as a result of a fungal infection taking over the world begins with scientists discussing on a TV show.
It is stated that microorganisms pose a great threat, among which fungi are the most dangerous. Explaining how dangerous mushrooms can be, a scientist says, “Viruses can make us sick, but mushrooms can change our minds.”
So much so that the BBC Planet Earth documentary Cordyceps: Attack of the Killer Fungi, which inspired The Last of Us, shows how this fungus infects an ant in real life.
And the scientist continues… Evolution can take place with a little warming of the Earth, that a gene mutates and any of the Asli fungi, Candida, Ergot, Cordyceps, Aspergilus can settle in the human brain and take control of billions of people, and the cure for this is also possible. says it isn’t. As a matter of fact, a fungal infection begins to enslave humanity. People infected with a fungus called Cordyceps sprout in their brains and later in their bodies and infect others, people become zombies. The only cure for the survivors to survive is a treatment to stop the spread of the fungus.
Along with the series, the questions of whether the Cordyceps mushroom, which is also present in real life, can really affect living things, or can mushrooms threaten humanity in the future, came to mind. Many experts, who gave their opinions on the subject, pointed out that there is no such thing as the zombieization of people, but the mushrooms are too important to be underestimated.
NUMBER OF FUNGUS TYPES THAT CAN DISEASE IN HUMAN BEING APPROXIMATELY 600
Prof. from Trakya University Biology Department, whose area of expertise is Mycology. Dr. Ahmet Asan clarified the curious questions about mushrooms.
Stating that the scientific name of the Cordyceps fungus is “Ophiocordyceps unilateralis”, Asan said, “This fungus is effective on ants (especially the ant species called “Camponotus leonardi”). It is the parasite of the ant, it causes the death of the ant in 4 to 10 days and is seen in tropical forests. their structures are quite different from each other. There is no record of this fungus affecting humans in a similar way, and it does not seem possible anyway. There are of course fungi that affect humans, causing disease in humans. According to Caceres et al., there are 2.2-3.8 million (estimated) fungal species in the world. There are 120 actually described -There are around 130 thousand fungal species. However, the number of fungal species that cause disease in humans is around 600 and the number of people affected by them is about 1 billion. In the world, especially Aspergillus (Turkish name: Asper), Candida (Turkish name: Kandida), Cryptococcus (Turkish name: Kapsülmaya) ), Pneumocystis and Mucorales members are effective in humans,” he says.
SOME MUSHROOM KILLS AND SOME MUSHROOM SAVE LIVES
prof. Dr. Asan says that fungi produce a wide variety of substances and adds: “For example, the fungus called Penicillium chrysogenum (Penicillium) produces the antibiotic called Penicillin G. The fungi named Aspergillus flavus (Cibil asper) and Aspergillus parasiticus (Parasite asper) produce the mycotoxin called aflatoxin. “While it can be used in a beneficial way for humans, aflatoxin is carcinogenic. There are many different substances produced by fungi. For example, the mushroom called Amanita phalloides (Village nomad mushroom), which can be collected in forests, is highly toxic and deadly for humans.”
DISEASES CAUSED BY FUNNY WERE OVER THE SHADOW OF BACTERIAL DISEASES UNTIL THE 1970s
Stating that there are millions of mushroom species that have not yet been identified and therefore their properties are unknown, Prof. Dr. Asan continues his words as follows: “It is not known what effects these will have on humans. In addition, the effects of all defined species on humans different from what we know have not been clearly revealed, new studies are needed. A situation that will affect the whole world, that is, cause a pandemic, is a situation that will cause a pandemic for now. “This is not the case, nor has it happened in the past. However, there have been and continue to be local fungal outbreaks.”
prof. Dr. Asan states that the diseases caused by fungi in humans due to reasons such as the fact that bacteria cause epidemics such as plague and cholera were overshadowed by bacterial disease studies until the 1970s, but the number of fungi that cause disease in humans increased after the 1970s.
AFFECTS 1 BILLION PEOPLE A YEAR
Noting that today, about 600 fungal species are pathogenic in humans, Prof. Dr. Asan said, “The possible reasons for the increase may be the worldwide population growth, the ease of travel between countries, the increase in the possibility of encountering new pathogens as a result of increased contact with wildlife due to population growth, the weakening of the immune system of people for various reasons. There is no record of any pathogenic fungal species causing an epidemic such as the plague epidemic in 1347, the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918, and the epidemics that affected the whole world such as the Covid-19 epidemic in 2019, but the CDC’s website provides information. According to reports, only in the last 10 years there have been regional fungal outbreaks:
2022: The epidemic in which the fungus named Candida auris is especially effective in the USA,
2018: Histoplasmosis epidemic in campers in Louisiana, USA,
2018: Valley fever outbreak in US volunteers on service trips to Mexico
2015: An outbreak of histoplasmosis in tunnel workers in the Dominican Republic,
2012: Outbreak of fungal meningitis and other fungal infections associated with contaminated steroid injections.”
prof. Dr. According to Asan, Litvintseva et al. (2015), there were 9 epidemics caused by fungi in various parts of the world only between 2005 and 2013, 921 people were affected and 79 of them lost their lives.
Stating that pathogenic fungi are more effective in people who have weakened immune systems for various reasons (for example, cancer, tissue and organ transplants, AIDS disease, long stay in intensive care, old age, etc.) and people who use broad-spectrum antibiotics for a long time, Prof. Dr. Asan continues his words as follows: “For example, Aspergillus fumigatus (Kıran asper) is very effective in patients with terminal lung cancer. Therefore, it is not expected that any fungus will cause a worldwide epidemic (pandemic) today. Because when the pathogenic fungus infects healthy people, the epidemic chain will be broken. But it is difficult to say anything about how new pathogenic species will behave in the future.”
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DESTROY THE MUSHROOM: 400 THOUSAND MUSHROOM CAN BE IN 1 GRAM OF AGRICULTURAL SOIL
prof. Dr. Asan states that microbes such as fungi, bacteria, viruses and protozoa are encountered all over the world. There are many microbes found naturally in air, soil, water, food, plants, animals and humans; but he says that it is possible to sterilize a place, a container, an environment locally, and we can do this by killing germs; Noting that it is impossible to kill all microbes, especially all fungi in the world, however, he gives the following example: “There may be 400 thousand fungi in 1 gram of cultivated soil, this number may be more or less. In other words, it is not possible to kill all fungi in the world. Deep freezing Cold environments, such as cold weather, do not kill microbes, but stop their reproduction. According to Santos et al. (2014) and Oliveira et al. (2021), there are no approved immunotherapeutics or vaccines for the treatment or prevention of fungal infections, but studies on the subject are ongoing.”
IS GLOBAL WARMING MAKING FUNGUS A LARGER THREAT?
Stating that global warming poses a threat to people in many ways, Prof. Dr. Asan says: “The increase in temperature in the world causes the ice to melt, sea levels rise with the melting, the reflectivity of the ice to the sun’s rays decreases and the warming increases even more. The amount of acid in the seas increases and this affects sea creatures negatively. It becomes possible for insects that play a role in transporting them to reach further north or further south and spread pathogens. Fungi’s main habitat in nature is soil. Fungi prefer to live in the soil at low temperatures, but as global temperatures increase, fungi in the soil may have to adapt to rising temperatures, but this type of adaptation is short-lived. For example, the fungus named Candida auris may have adapted to the rising temperature and thus gained the ability to reproduce at human body temperature (37 °C). It is difficult to treat and can show multiple resistance to many antifungal antibiotics.
Again, according to the CDC, the number of Candida auris-related cases reported between 2016-2021 in the USA alone is 7 thousand 413, and the increase accelerated in the 2020-2021 period.
MUSHROOMS ARE VERY IMPORTANT, CANNOT BE IMPOSSIBLE
Emphasizing that mushrooms should not be taken lightly, Prof. Dr. Asan said: “Fungi can cause disease in humans, plants and animals; they can cause food spoilage and cause economic losses; poisonous mushrooms can cause human deaths; they can cause the deterioration of historical monuments and many other important assets.
For example, a fungal infection caused by Candida auris in the USA is of great concern. Because it can cause death in people who are hospitalized for a long time, use broad-spectrum antibiotics and have low immunity for various reasons. Although this fungus has been reported in Istanbul in 2021 and Izmir in 2023, there is no outbreak in Turkey.
However, mushrooms also have beneficial aspects for humans. For example, we obtain antibiotics from some fungi, we use them in the production of various beverages and cheeses, we use cultivated mushrooms directly as food, fungi play an important role in the substance cycle in nature. So mushrooms are very important, they cannot be underestimated.”
2023-04-30 02:55:36
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