Cicada Fungus Might Have Medical Potential

[Guest guest]

It just goes to show there is so much we don't know about these

fungi/molds and there potentials.

KC

Cicada Fungus Might Have Medical Potential

http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_060224.html

The same fungus that grows on and infects some cicadas may have

biomedical potential.

Researchers found small protein segments, called peptides, made up

of unusual amino acids within the fungus on an Australian species of

cicada, Cicadetta puer, that give it antimicrobial and

immunosuppressant abilities.

One of the amino acids causes the peptide to coil into a helical

structure, said Donna Gibson of the USDA's Agricultural Research

Service. This may be useful for engineering molecules, because most

drugs and pesticides are modeled after the chemical structures of

natural products.

Researchers also found that the fungus, Cordyceps heteropoda,

produces myriocin, a compound other scientists are researching that

could be a key to preventing post-transplant organ rejection in

humans.

Americans are most familiar with the cicada species pictured here,

Magicicada septendecimthe. This is the species that emerge from the

ground in droves every 17 years to mate, mostly in the eastern

United States, cluttering up sidewalks, yards, and fly into peoples'

heads.

The recent findings have been described in the Journal of Natural

Products.