Genetic Heterogeneity of Natural Cordyceps sinensis with Co-existence of Multiple Fungi

Abstract: Natural Cordyceps sinensis is a precious traditional Chinese herb and has been used as a folk medicine for hundreds of years for promoting health， combating diseases and facilitating post-disease recovery. However， the debate on the anamorph-teleomorph connection for Ophiocordyceps sinensis fungus has been undergoing for decades. Direct evidence is still lacking for the hypothesis that Hirsutella sinensis is the sole anamorph of O. sinensis. Some indirect evidence was derived from molecular systematics studies using either microcosmic or macrocosmic techniques. This paper reviewes the C. sinensis molecular systematics publications and discusses their experimental designs and methodologies， data analysis methods and the results. More and more new data from microcosmic molecular biology studies demonstrated the multiple genetic heterogeneity of the C. sinensis genomic DNA pool， indicating that natural C. sinensis contains multiple fungi and multiple genotypes of O. sinensis， forming a natural fungi-insect complex. The fungi that differentially exist in the caterpillar body， stroma and ascocarps of C. sinensis undergo dynamic， asynchronous alterations during C. sinensis maturation. Macrocosmic analyses with using density-weighted algorithms demonstrated the dramatic differences in the integral molecular marker polymorphism in the different compartments of C. sinensis， and the dynamic alterations of the molecular marker polymorphism during C. sinensis maturation. All these results from molecular systematics studies supported the hypothesis of an integrated micro-ecosystem for natural C. sinensis.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2015.02.0018