Claviceps purpurea

Claviceps purpurea is an ergot fungus that grows on the ears of

rye and related cereal and forage plants. Consumption of grains or Claviceps purpurea
seeds contaminated with the survival structure of this fungus, the
ergot sclerotium, can cause ergotism in humans and other
mammals.[1][2] C. purpurea most commonly affects outcrossing
species such as rye (its most common host), as well as triticale,
wheat and barley. It affects oats only rarely.

Contents
Life cycle
Intraspecific variations
Host range
Pooideae
Arundinoideae
Scientific classification
Chloridoideae
Panicoideae Kingdom: Fungi
Epidemiology Division: Ascomycota
Effects Class: Sordariomycetes
Culture Order: Hypocreales
Speculations
Family: Clavicipitaceae
See also
Genus: Claviceps
References
Species: C. purpurea
External links
Binomial name
Claviceps purpurea
Life cycle (Fr.) Tul. 1853

An ergot kernel called Sclerotium clavus develops when a floret of Ecological races
flowering grass or cereal is infected by an ascospore of C.
purpurea. The infection process mimics a pollen grain growing G1 — land grasses of open
into an ovary during fertilization. Because infection requires meadows and fields;
access of the fungal spore to the stigma, plants infected by C.
purpurea are mainly outcrossing species with open flowers, such G2 — grasses from moist,
as rye (Secale cereale) and Alopecurus. forest, and mountain habitats;

The proliferating fungal mycelium then destroys the plant ovary G3 (C. purpurea var.
and connects with the vascular bundle originally intended for spartinae) — salt marsh
feeding the developing seed. The first stage of ergot infection grasses (Spartina, Distichlis).
manifests itself as a white soft tissue (known as Sphacelia
segetum) producing sugary honeydew, which often drops out of
 the infected grass florets.
This honeydew contains
millions of asexual spores
(conidia) which are
dispersed to other florets by
insects or rain. Later, the
Sphacelia segetum convert
into a hard dry Sclerotium fruiting bodies with head and stipe on
clavus inside the husk of the Sclerotium
floret. At this stage,
alkaloids and lipids (e.g.
ricinoleic acid) accumulate in the Sclerotium.

When a mature Sclerotium drops to the ground, the fungus remains

dormant until proper conditions trigger its fruiting phase (onset of
spring, rain period, need of fresh temperatures during winter, etc.). It
Various stages in the life cycle of germinates, forming one or several fruiting bodies with head and
Claviceps purpurea stipe, variously colored (resembling a tiny mushroom). In the head,
threadlike sexual spores (ascospores) are formed in perithecia, which
are ejected simultaneously, when suitable grass hosts are flowering.
Ergot infection causes a reduction in the yield and quality of grain and hay produced, and if infected grain or
hay is fed to livestock it may cause a disease called ergotism.

Polistes dorsalis, a species of social wasps, have been recorded as a vector of the spread of this particular
fungus. During their foraging behavior, particles of the fungal conidia get bound to parts of this wasp's body.
As P. dorsalis travels from source to source, it leaves the fungal infection behind.[3] Insects, including flies
and moths, have also been shown to carry conidia of Claviceps species, but if insects play a role in
spreading the fungus from infected to healthy plants is unknown.[4]

Intraspecific variations
Early scientists have observed Claviceps purpurea on other Poaceae as
Secale cereale. 1855, Grandclement[5] described ergot on Triticum aestivum.
During more than a century scientists aimed to describe specialized species
or specialized varieties inside the species Claviceps purpurea.

Claviceps microcephala Tul. (1853)

Claviceps wilsonii Cooke (1884)

Later scientists tried to determine host varieties as

Claviceps purpurea var. agropyri

Claviceps purpurea var. purpurea
Claviceps purpurea var. spartinae Model of Claviceps
Claviceps purpurea var. wilsonii. purpurea, Botanical
Museum Greifswald
Molecular biology has not confirmed this hypothesis but has distinguished
three groups differing in their ecological specificity.[6]

G1—land grasses of open meadows and fields;

G2—grasses from moist, forest, and mountain habitats;
 G3 (C. purpurea var. spartinae)—salt marsh grasses (Spartina, Distichlis).

Morphological criteria to distinguish different groups: The shape and the size of sclerotia are not good
indicators because they strongly depend on the size and shape of the host floret. The size of conidia can be
an indication but it is weak and it is necessary to pay attention to that, due to osmotic pressure, it varies
significantly if the spores are observed in honeydew or in water. The sclerotial density can be used as the
groups G2 and G3 float in water.

The compound of alkaloids is also used to differentiate the strains.

Host range

Pooideae

Agrostis canina, Alopecurus myosuroides (G2), Alopecurus arundinaceus

(G2), Alopecurus pratensis, Bromus arvensis, Bromus commutatus, Bromus
hordeaceus (G2), Bromus inermis,[7] Bromus marginatus, Elymus
tsukushiense, Festuca arundinacea,[8] Elytrigia repens (G1), Nardus stricta,
Poa annua (G2), Phleum pratense, Phalaris arundinacea (G2), Poa
pratensis (G1), Stipa.

Arundinoideae

Danthonia, Molinia caerulea.

Chloridoideae
Sclerotium of Claviceps
Spartina, Distichlis (G3) purpurea on Alopecurus
myosuroides

Panicoideae

Setaria

Epidemiology
Claviceps purpurea has been known to mankind for a long time, and its appearance has been linked to
extremely cold winters that were followed by rainy springs.

The sclerotial stage of C. purpurea conspicuous on the heads of ryes and other such grains is known as
ergot. Sclerotia germinate in spring after a period of low temperature. A temperature of 0-5 °C for at least 25
days is required. Water before the cold period is also necessary.[9] Favorable temperatures for stroma
production are in the range of 10-25 °C.[10] Favorable temperatures for mycelial growth are in the range of
20-30 °C with an optimum at 25 °C.[10]

Sunlight has a chromogenic effect on the mycelium with intense coloration.[11]

Effects
The disease cycle of the ergot fungus was first described in 1853,[12] but the
connection with ergot and epidemics among people and animals was
reported already in a scientific text in 1676.[13] The ergot sclerotium
contains high concentrations (up to 2% of dry mass) of the alkaloid
ergotamine, a complex molecule consisting of a tripeptide-derived cyclol-
lactam ring connected via amide linkage to a lysergic acid (ergoline) moiety,
and other alkaloids of the ergoline group that are biosynthesized by the
fungus.[14] Ergot alkaloids have a wide range of biological activities
including effects on circulation and neurotransmission.[15]

Ergotism is the name for sometimes severe pathological syndromes affecting

humans or animals that have ingested ergot alkaloid-containing plant
material, such as ergot-contaminated grains. Monks of the order of St.
Anthony the Great specialized in treating ergotism victims[16] with balms
containing tranquilizing and circulation-stimulating plant extracts; they were
also skilled in amputations. The common name for ergotism is "St.
Anthony's Fire",[16] in reference to monks who cared for victims as well as
Ergot-derived drug to stop
symptoms, such as severe burning sensations in the limbs.[17] These are
postnatal bleeding
caused by effects of ergot alkaloids on the vascular system due to
vasoconstriction of blood vessels, sometimes leading to gangrene and loss of
limbs due to severely restricted blood circulation.

The neurotropic activities of the ergot alkaloids may also cause hallucinations and attendant irrational
behaviour, convulsions, and even death.[14][15] Other symptoms include strong uterine contractions, nausea,
seizures, and unconsciousness. Since the Middle Ages, controlled doses of ergot were used to induce
abortions and to stop maternal bleeding after childbirth.[18] Ergot alkaloids are also used in products such as
Cafergot (containing caffeine and ergotamine[18] or ergoline) to treat migraine headaches. Ergot extract is no
longer used as a pharmaceutical preparation.

Ergot contains no lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) but rather ergotamine, which is used to synthesize
lysergic acid, an analog of and precursor for synthesis of LSD. Moreover, ergot sclerotia naturally contain
some amounts of lysergic acid.[19]

Culture
Potato dextrose agar, wheat seeds or oat flour are suitable substrates
for growth of the fungus in the laboratory.[20]

Agricultural production of Claviceps purpurea on rye is used to

produce ergot alkaloids. Biological production of ergot alkaloids is
also carried out by saprophytic cultivations.

Speculations
Sphacelia segetum on potato
During the Middle Ages, human poisoning due to the consumption dextrose agar
of rye bread made from ergot-infected grain was common in Europe.
These epidemics were known as Saint Anthony's fire,[16] or ignis
sacer.

Gordon Wasson proposed that the psychedelic effects were the explanation behind the festival of Demeter at
the Eleusinian Mysteries, where the initiates drank kykeon.[21]
Linnda R. Caporael posited in 1976 that the hysterical symptoms of young women that had spurred the
Salem witch trials had been the result of consuming ergot-tainted rye.[22] However, her conclusions were
later disputed by Nicholas P. Spanos and Jack Gottlieb, after a review of the historical and medical
evidence.[23] Other authors have likewise cast doubt on ergotism having been the cause of the Salem witch
trials.[24]

The Great Fear in France during the Revolution has also been linked by some historians to the influence of
ergot.

British author John Grigsby claims that the presence of ergot in the stomachs of some of the so-called 'bog-
bodies' (Iron Age human remains from peat bogs N E Europe such as Tollund Man), reveals that ergot was
once a ritual drink in a prehistoric fertility cult akin to the Eleusinian Mysteries cult of ancient Greece. In his
book Beowulf and Grendel he argues that the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf is based on a memory of the
quelling of this fertility cult by followers of Odin. He states that Beowulf, which he translates as barley-
wolf, suggests a connection to ergot which in German was known as the 'tooth of the wolf'.

An outbreak of violent hallucinations among hundreds of residents of Pont St. Esprit in 1951 in the south of
France has also been attributed to ergotism.[25] Seven people died.

See also
Smut (fungus)

References
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External links
Claviceps purpurea - Ergot Alkaloid (http://www.entheology.org/edoto/anmviewer.asp?a=37&z
=5)
Ergot article from North Dakota State University, 2002 (http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plant
sci/crops/pp551w.htm)
PBS Secrets of the Dead: "The Witches Curse" (concerning the Salem trials and ergot) (http
s://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_salem/index.html)
New England Journal of Medicine - Dopamine Agonists and the Risk of Cardiac-Valve
Regurgitation (http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/356/1/29)
Linnda Caporeal's article "Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem? (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20080511154621/http://web.utk.edu/~kstclair/221/ergotism.html)

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