ArticlemBio2021
Mechanisms behind the Madness: How Do Zombie-Making Fungal Entomopathogens Affect Host Behavior To Increase Transmission?
Article in mBio, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed.
- Metabarcoding reveals a hidden endophytic stage of the 'zombie-ant' fungus in Amazonian mosses.IMA fungus · 2026Article
- Thermotolerant insect-associated selective pressure may drive increased lipid metabolic plasticity and emerging pathogenic potential in yeasts.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Mycoviruses in Entomopathogenic Fungi.Viruses · 2025Review
- Engineered Metarhizium fungi produce longifolene to attract and kill mosquitoes.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
- Article
- The First of Us:bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Genomic Insights into the Molecular Basis of Broad Host Adaptability of the Entomopathogenic FungusJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Entomopathogenic fungi: insights into recent understanding.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2025Review
- Article
- Parasitism by Entomopathogenic Fungi and Insect Host Defense Strategies.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Annotated checklist of arthropod-pathogenic species in the Entomophthoromycotina (Fungi, Zoopagomycota) in North America.MycoKeys · 2025Article
- Consequences of "zombie-making" and generalist fungal pathogens on carpenter ant microbiota.Current research in insect science · 2025Article
- The caterpillar Manduca sexta brain shows changes in gene expression and protein abundance correlating with parasitic manipulation of behaviour.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Introducing a global database of entomopathogenic fungi and their host associations.Scientific data · 2024Article
- Viral- and fungal-mediated behavioral manipulation of hosts: summit disease.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2024Review
- Signatures of transposon-mediated genome inflation, host specialization, and photoentrainment ineLife · 2024Article
- Signatures of transposon-mediated genome inflation, host specialization, and photoentrainment inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Cross-talk between immunity and behavior: insights from entomopathogenic fungi and their insect hosts.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2024Review
- Mannitol mediates the mummification behavior ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Multiomic interpretation of fungus-infected ant metabolomes during manipulated summit disease.Scientific reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Transmission is a crucial step in all pathogen life cycles. As such, certain species have evolved complex traits that increase their chances to find and invade new hosts. Fungal species that hijack insect behaviors are evident examples. Many of these "zombie-making" entomopathogens cause their hosts to exhibit heightened activity, seek out elevated positions, and display body postures that promote spore dispersal, all with specific circadian timing. Answering how fungal entomopathogens manipulate their hosts will increase our understanding of molecular aspects underlying fungus-insect interactions, pathogen-host coevolution, and the regulation of animal behavior. It may also lead to the discovery of novel bioactive compounds, given that the fungi involved have traditionally been understudied. This minireview summarizes and discusses recent work on zombie-making fungi of the orders Hypocreales and Entomophthorales that has resulted in hypotheses regarding the mechanisms that drive fungal manipulation of insect behavior. We discuss mechanical processes, host chemical signaling pathways, and fungal secreted effectors proposed to be involved in establishing pathogen-adaptive behaviors. Additionally, we touch on effectors' possible modes of action and how the convergent evolution of host manipulation could have given rise to the many parallels in observed behaviors across fungus-insect systems and beyond. However, the hypothesized mechanisms of behavior manipulation have yet to be proven. We, therefore, also suggest avenues of research that would move the field toward a more quantitative future.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.