Isaria sinclairii

Isaria sinclairii is the name of the anamorph; the teleomorph is Cordyceps sinclairii, Cordycipitaceae.{{cite web|url=https://biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz/scientific-names/1cb18307-36b9-11d5-9548-00d0592d548c|title=Species: Isaria sinclairii (Berk.) Lloyd [stat. anam.], Mycological Writings 7: 1179 (1923)|publisher=Landcare Research|work=New Zealand Fungi|access-date=March 25, 2011}} The species was first described in 1855 by Miles Joseph Berkeley from specimens collected in the garden of Archdeacon William Williams at Tūranga, Poverty Bay.{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54142#page/348/mode/1up|title=The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843|last=Hooker|first=Joseph Dalton|publisher=Reeve Brothers|year=1855|volume=2|location=London|pages=348}} It was moved to the genus Isaria in 1923 by Curtis Gates Lloyd.{{Cite journal|last=Lloyd|first=C. G.|date=1923|title=Mycological Notes 68|journal=Mycological Writings|volume=7|issue=68|pages=1169–1184}}

File:FourIsariasinclairii.jpg, New Zealand, showing the fruiting bodies and parasitised cicada nymphs|alt=]]

Isaria sinclairii is a fungus which attacks insects, including cicada larvae. The larvae typically die just beneath the soil surface, and the fungus produces white tufts which grow up from the soil and release powdery white spores.{{cite web |url=http://fungalguide.landcareresearch.co.nz/WebForms/FG_Genus.aspx?Group=Isaria&pk=5008 |title=Isaria |work=Fungal Guide |publisher=Landcare Research |access-date=March 25, 2011}} I. sinclairii is found from Asia (particularly China, Japan, and Korea) through to New Zealand. In New Zealand it attacks cicadas of the genera Amphipsalta and Melampsalta.{{Cite journal|last1=Glare|first1=Travis|last2=O'Callaghan|first2=Maureen|last3=Wigley|first3=Peter J.|date=1993|title=Checklist of naturally occurring entomopathogenic microbes and nematodes in New Zealand|journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology|volume=20|issue=2 |pages=95–120|doi=10.1080/03014223.1993.10422867|doi-access=}}{{Cite journal|last=Cunningham|first=G.H.|date=1921|title=The genus Cordyceps in New Zealand|url=http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/image/rsnz_53/rsnz_53_00_0487_0372_ac_01.html|journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand|volume=53|pages=372–382}} In the lab it can be cultured on the bodies of silkworms.

File:IsariasinclairiiCloseup.jpg

Isaria sinclairii and similar vegetable caterpillar species such as Ophiocordyceps sinensis have been used in traditional Tibetan medicine and in traditional Chinese medicine as tonics believed to impart eternal youth.{{Cite journal|last1=Strader|first1=C.R.|last2=Pearce|first2=C.J.|last3=Oberlies|first3=N.H.|date=2011|title=Fingolimod (FTY720): a recently approved multiple sclerosis drug based on a fungal secondary metabolite|journal=Journal of Natural Products|volume=74|issue=4|pages=900–907|doi=10.1021/np2000528|pmid=21456524}} A sphingolipid derivative produced by I. sinclairii, myriocin, was discovered to have powerful immunosuppressive properties, a function of the way the fungus attacks living insects.{{cite journal |title=Myriocin |date=October 27, 2010 |journal=Lipid Maps |url=http://www.lipidmaps.org/update/2010/101101/full/lipidmaps.2010.34.html |doi=10.1038/lipidmaps.2010.34 |access-date=March 26, 2011 |archive-date=March 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309065750/http://www.lipidmaps.org/update/2010/101101/full/lipidmaps.2010.34.html |url-status=dead |last1=Burridge |first1=Samia |url-access=subscription }}{{cite journal |author1=Tetsuro Fujita |author2=Kenichiro Inoue |author3=Satoshi Yamamoto |author4=Takeshi Ikumoto |author5=Shigeo Sasaki |author6=Ryousuke Toyama |author7=Kenji Chiba |author8=Yukio Hoshino |author9=Takeki Okumoto |year=1994 |title=Fungal metabolites. Part 11. A potent immunosuppressive activity found in Isaria sinclairii metabolite |journal=The Journal of Antibiotics |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=208–215 |pmid=8150717 |doi=10.7164/antibiotics.47.208 |doi-access=free }} Because myriocin is too toxic to use in humans, a synthetic derivative was developed in 1992, named FTY720 or fingolimod.{{cite journal |author1=Tetsuro Fujita |author2=Kenichiro Inoue |author3=Satoshi Yamamoto |author4=Takeshi Ikumoto |author5=Shigeo Sasaki |author6=Ryousuke Toyama |author7=Kenji Chiba |author8=Yukio Hoshino |author9=Takeki Okumoto |year=1994 |title=Fungal metabolites. Part 12. Potent immunosuppressant, 14-deoxomyriocin, (2S,3R,4R)-(E)-2-amino-3,4-dihydroxy-2-hydroxymethyleicos-6-enoic acid and structure-activity relationships of myriocin derivatives |journal=The Journal of Antibiotics |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=216–224 |pmid=8150718 | doi = 10.7164/antibiotics.47.216 |doi-access=free }} Under its trade name Gilenya, fingolimod was approved by the FDA in 2010 as the first oral drug for treating the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis. Fingolimod shows promise as a cancer medication,{{Cite journal|last1=White|first1=C.|last2=Alshaker|first2=H.|last3=Cooper|first3=C.|last4=Winkler|first4=M.|last5=Pchejetski|first5=D|date=2016|title=The emerging role of FTY720 (Fingolimod) in cancer treatment|journal=Oncotarget|volume=7|issue=17|pages=23106–23127|doi=10.18632/oncotarget.7145|pmid=27036015|pmc=5029614}} and has been tested as a possible treatment for obesity.{{Cite journal|last1=Ahn|first1=M.Y.|last2=Jee|first2=S.D.|last3=Lee|first3=B.M.|date=2007|title=Antiobesity effects of Isaria sinclairii by repeated oral treatment in obese Zucker rats over a 4-month period|journal=Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A|volume=70|issue=15–16|pages=1395–1401|doi=10.1080/15287390701428556|pmid=17654260|s2cid=911043 }}

{{Reflist|32em}}

• [http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/Place/19070510/Isaria%20Jan2011.pdf ARS Collection of Entomopathogenic Fungal Cultures]{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Isaria sinclairii discussed on RNZ Critter of the Week, [https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018679762 25 January 2019]

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Category:Clavicipitaceae

Category:Fungi described in 1855

Category:Taxa named by Miles Joseph Berkeley

Category:Fungus species