Fungal artillery of zombie flies : infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon

de Ruiter, Jolet; Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Sif Fink; Herren, Pascal; Høier, Freja; De Fine Licht, Henrik H.; Jensen, Kaare H.

doi:10.1098/rsif.2019.0448

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Fungal artillery of zombie flies : infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon
Authors:	de Ruiter, Jolet Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Sif Fink Herren, Pascal Høier, Freja De Fine Licht, Henrik H. Jensen, Kaare H.
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.1098/rsif.2019.0448
Published in:	Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Volume(Issue):	16
Issue:	20190448
Issue Date:	30-Oct-2019
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	The Royal Society Publishing
ISSN:	1742-5689 1742-5662
Language:	English
Subjects:	Entomopthora muscae; Dispersal range; Force-balance model; High-speed videography; Biomimetic soft cannon; Fungal spore ejection
Subject (DDC):	570: Biology
Abstract:	Dead sporulating female fly cadavers infected by the house fly-pathogenic fungus Entomophthora muscae are attractive to healthy male flies, which by their physical inspection may mechanically trigger spore release and by their movement create whirlwind airflows that covers them in infectious conidia. The fungal artillery of E. muscae protrudes outward from the fly cadaver, and consists of a plethora of micrometric stalks that each uses a liquid-based turgor pressure build-up to eject a jet of protoplasm and the initially attached spore. The biophysical processes that regulate the release and range of spores, however, are unknown. To study the physics of ejection, we design a biomimetic ‘soft cannon’ that consists of a millimetric elastomeric barrel filled with fluid and plugged with a projectile. We precisely control the maximum pressure leading up to the ejection, and study the cannon efficiency as a function of its geometry and wall elasticity. In particular, we predict that ejection velocity decreases with spore size. The calculated flight trajectories under aerodynamic drag predict that the minimum spore size required to traverse a quiescent layer of a few millimetres around the fly cadaver is approximately 10 µm. This corroborates with the natural size of E. muscae conidia (approx. 27 µm) being large enough to traverse the boundary layer but small enough (less than 40 µm) to be lifted by air currents. Based on this understanding, we show how the fungal spores are able to reach a new host.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/18639
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	Life Sciences and Facility Management
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Life Sciences und Facility Management

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de Ruiter, J., Arnbjerg-Nielsen, S. F., Herren, P., Høier, F., De Fine Licht, H. H., & Jensen, K. H. (2019). Fungal artillery of zombie flies : infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 16(20190448). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0448

de Ruiter, J. et al. (2019) ‘Fungal artillery of zombie flies : infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon’, Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 16(20190448). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0448.

J. de Ruiter, S. F. Arnbjerg-Nielsen, P. Herren, F. Høier, H. H. De Fine Licht, and K. H. Jensen, “Fungal artillery of zombie flies : infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon,” Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 16, no. 20190448, Oct. 2019, doi: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0448.

DE RUITER, Jolet, Sif Fink ARNBJERG-NIELSEN, Pascal HERREN, Freja HØIER, Henrik H. DE FINE LICHT und Kaare H. JENSEN, 2019. Fungal artillery of zombie flies : infectious spore dispersal using a soft water cannon. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 30 Oktober 2019. Bd. 16, Nr. 20190448. DOI 10.1098/rsif.2019.0448

de Ruiter, Jolet, Sif Fink Arnbjerg-Nielsen, Pascal Herren, Freja Høier, Henrik H. De Fine Licht, and Kaare H. Jensen. 2019. “Fungal Artillery of Zombie Flies : Infectious Spore Dispersal Using a Soft Water Cannon.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface 16 (20190448). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0448.

de Ruiter, Jolet, et al. “Fungal Artillery of Zombie Flies : Infectious Spore Dispersal Using a Soft Water Cannon.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 16, no. 20190448, Oct. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2019.0448.