Cordycipitaceae

The Cordycipitaceae are a family of fungi in the order Hypocreales. Most species parasitise insects and other arthropods, growing inside the host and then sending up a fruiting body from its remains ^{1Reference 1Sung GH et al. · 2007Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi — taxonomyView study →}.

The family was formally established in 2007, when a DNA study of 162 species split the old genus Cordyceps into several lineages. The Cordycipitaceae keep the type species of Cordyceps, Cordyceps militaris, and most of the Cordyceps species with pale to brightly coloured, fleshy fruiting bodies ^{1Reference 1Sung GH et al. · 2007Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi — taxonomyView study →}.

The same study moved the caterpillar fungus, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, and the genus Tolypocladium (as Elaphocordyceps) into a separate family, the Ophiocordycipitaceae ^{1Reference 1Sung GH et al. · 2007Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi — taxonomyView study →}.

Cordyceps militaris is the family’s medicinal member. It is an insect parasite, and it is studied for many of the same uses as the wild caterpillar fungus ^{1,2Reference 1Sung GH et al. · 2007Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi — taxonomyView study →Reference 2Kontogiannatos D et al. · 2021ReviewBiomass and cordycepin production by the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps militaris — a review of various aspects and recent trends towards the exploitation of a valuable fungus — reviewView study →}. Unlike the caterpillar fungus, it is easy to grow in the laboratory, so it is cultivated commercially ^{2Reference 2Kontogiannatos D et al. · 2021ReviewBiomass and cordycepin production by the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps militaris — a review of various aspects and recent trends towards the exploitation of a valuable fungus — reviewView study →}.

The wild cordyceps of Chinese medicine is Ophiocordyceps sinensis, in the neighbouring family. The two are different fungi, and research on one does not transfer directly to the other ^{1Reference 1Sung GH et al. · 2007Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi — taxonomyView study →}.

Much of the cultivation work on C. militaris centres on cordycepin (3′-deoxyadenosine), its main studied compound ^{2,3Reference 2Kontogiannatos D et al. · 2021ReviewBiomass and cordycepin production by the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps militaris — a review of various aspects and recent trends towards the exploitation of a valuable fungus — reviewView study →Reference 3Tan L et al. · 2020ReviewAnti-inflammatory effects of cordycepin: a review — reviewView study →}. Cordycepin has anti-inflammatory effects in laboratory and animal studies ^{3Reference 3Tan L et al. · 2020ReviewAnti-inflammatory effects of cordycepin: a review — reviewView study →}. Extracts, polysaccharides and cordycepin from C. militaris also modulate the immune system ^{4Reference 4Lee CT et al. · 2020ReviewTrends in the immunomodulatory effects of Cordyceps militaris: total extracts, polysaccharides and cordycepin — reviewView study →}.

The family also includes the asexual insect-parasitising genera Beauveria, Isaria, Lecanicillium and Simplicillium ^{1Reference 1Sung GH et al. · 2007Phylogenetic classification of Cordyceps and the clavicipitaceous fungi — taxonomyView study →}.

Cordycepin and related nucleosides, and polysaccharides, both studied mainly in C. militaris ^{2,4Reference 2Kontogiannatos D et al. · 2021ReviewBiomass and cordycepin production by the medicinal mushroom Cordyceps militaris — a review of various aspects and recent trends towards the exploitation of a valuable fungus — reviewView study →Reference 4Lee CT et al. · 2020ReviewTrends in the immunomodulatory effects of Cordyceps militaris: total extracts, polysaccharides and cordycepin — reviewView study →}.