TY - JOUR T1 - Psychoactive plant- and mushroom-associated alkaloids from two behavior modifying cicada pathogens JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/375105 SP - 375105 AU - Greg R. Boyce AU - Emile Gluck-Thaler AU - Jason C. Slot AU - Jason E. Stajich AU - William J. Davis AU - Tim Y. James AU - John R. Cooley AU - Daniel G. Panaccione AU - Jørgen Eilenberg AU - Henrik H. De Fine Licht AU - Angie M. Macias AU - Matthew C. Berger AU - Kristen L. Wickert AU - Cameron M. Stauder AU - Ellie J. Spahr AU - Matthew D. Maust AU - Amy M. Metheny AU - Chris Simon AU - Gene Kritsky AU - Kathie T. Hodge AU - Richard A. Humber AU - Terry Gullion AU - Dylan P. G. Short AU - Teiya Kijimoto AU - Dan Mozgai AU - Nidia Arguedas AU - Matt T. Kasson Y1 - 2018/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/18/375105.abstract N2 - Entomopathogenic fungi routinely kill their hosts before releasing infectious spores, but select species keep insects alive while sporulating, which enhances dispersal. Transcriptomics and metabolomics studies of entomopathogens with post-mortem dissemination from their parasitized hosts have unraveled infection processes and host responses, yet mechanisms underlying active spore transmission by Entomophthoralean fungi in living insects remain elusive. Here we report the discovery, through metabolomics, of the plant-associated amphetamine, cathinone, in four Massospora cicadina-infected periodical cicada populations, and the mushroom-associated tryptamine, psilocybin, in annual cicadas infected with Massospora platypediae or Massospora levispora, which appear to represent a single fungal species. The absence of some fungal enzymes necessary for cathinone and psilocybin biosynthesis along with the inability to detect intermediate metabolites or gene orthologs are consistent with possibly novel biosynthesis pathways in Massospora. The neurogenic activities of these compounds suggest the extended phenotype of Massospora that modifies cicada behavior to maximize dissemination is chemically-induced. ER -