• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2015

Cordyceps militaris has shown to have various pharmacological activities including an immune-modulatory effect. Previously, we reported that anti-influenza effect of C. militaris in DBA/2 mice was mediated by increased IL-12 and the activation of NK cells. In this study, we investigated the effect of C. militaris on adaptive immune responses using DBA2 mice immunized with influenza vaccine. To determine the effect of C. militaris on antigen presentation capability, we treated RAW 264.7 cells with various concentrations of ethanol extract of C. militaris, which showed a significant upregulation of CD86 (B7.2), CD284 (TLR4), CD40, H-2k (MHC I) and I-Ad (MHC II). To examine the direct effect of C. militaris on adaptive immune responses, we immunized DBA2 mice with influenza vaccine in presence or absence of C. militaris. After 2 or 4 weeks, influenza-specific T cell proliferation, HAI titers and IFN-${\gamma}$ production were measured in plasma or PBMCs isolated from animals. Influenza-specific T cell proliferation and HAI titers were not considerably increased in immunized mice in presence of C. militaris. However, the production of IFN-${\gamma}$ was much greater in immunized mice with C. militaris as adjuvant than only immunized mice.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.364-368
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• 2011

An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of Cordyceps militaris mycelia on microbial populations and fibrolytic enzyme activities in vitro. C. militaris mycelia was added to buffered rumen fluid with final concentrations of 0.00, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30 g/L and incubation times were for 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h. At all incubation times, the supplementation of C. militaris mycelia linearly increased the number of total viable and celluloytic bacteria; maximum responses were seen with 0.25 g/L supplementation of C. militaris mycelia. The addition of C. militaris mycelia above the level of 0.20 g/L significantly (p<0.01) increased the number of total and cellulolytic bacteria compared with the control. On the other hand, the response of fungal counts to the supplementation of C. militaris mycelia showed a linear decrease; the lowest response was seen with 0.30 g/L supplementation of C. militaris mycelia. It would seem that C. militaris mycelia possess a strong negative effect on rumen fungi since the lowest level of C. militaris mycelia supplementation markedly decreased fungal counts. Carboxylmethyl cellulase activities were linearly increased by the addition of C. militaris mycelia except at 3 and 9 h incubation times. At all incubation times, the supplementation of C. militaris mycelia linearly increased the activities of xylanase and avicelase. In conclusion, the supplementation of C. militaris mycelia to the culture of mixed rumen microorganisms showed a positive effect on cellulolytic bacteria and cellulolytic enzyme activities but a negative effect on fungi.

• 한국균학회소식:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.76-95
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• 2009

In the fungal genus Cordyceps, the type species Cordyceps militaris produces bioactive ingredients and exhibits medicinal effects as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), The fruiting bodies of C.militaris have now been mass-produced artificially and used as functional food and medicine in China. The unstable variation in forming fruiting body is however a key restrictive factor in industrial production. The genetic study on in vitro stromata formation of C. militaris has rarely been carried out. Here, we report the effects of genetic variation including the mating system on perithecial stromata formation of C. militaris. Monoconidial isolates which have both MAT1-1-1 and MAT1-2-1(genotype MAT1-1/2) could produce stromata. While the isolates only have either MAT1-1-1 or MAT1-2-1 (genotype MAT1-1 or MAT1-2) failed to produce stromata. Despite obvious heterothallism, homothallism was occasionally observed in a few isolates of C. militaris. High genetic variation was observed amongst the different monoconidial isolates of C. militaris. The unstable variation or lose of fruiting body formation was found to be caused by the inner-species high genetic variation of C. militaris. These results also indicated that C. militaris sexually behaved as both heterothallic and homothallic and required two mating type compatible in the same culture in order to produce regular clubshaped perithecial stromata.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.217-220
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• 2004

The effect of media composition and culture condition on mycelial growth and cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine) production was determined using Cordyceps spp. Among the strains of C. militaris and C. sinensis tested, C. militaris KCTC 6862, C. militaris DGUM 32003 and C. militaris KCTC 16932 were excellent for the production of cordycepin. The optimal temperature and pH for production of cordycepin were $24^{\circ}C$ and pH ranged from 6.0 to 10, respectively. Among various sources of carbon and nitrogen tested, glucose and tryptone were very excellent for the production of cordycepin, respectively. After 5days cultivation with 1% of tryptone with nitrogen source, 39mg/l of cordycepin was produced. However, addition of phosphorus sources reduced the production of cordycepin.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2017

Cordyceps militaris, known as Dong-Chong-Xia-Cao, produces the most cordycepin among Cordyceps species and can be cultured artificially. For these reasons, C. militaris is widely used as herb or functional food in the East Asia. In this study, we developed a new strain of C. militaris that produces higher cordycepin content than parent strains through mating-based sexual reproduction. Twenty parent strains were collected and identified as C. militaris based on internal trasncrived spacer and rDNA sequences. Seven single spores of MAT 1-1 idiomorph and five single spores of MAT 1-2 idiomorph were isolated from 12 parent strains. When 35 combinations were mated on the brown rice medium with the isolated single spores, eight combinations formed a stroma with a normal perithecia and confirmed mated strains. High pressure liquid chromatography analysis showed that mated strain KSP8 produced the most cordycepin in all the media among all the tested strains. This result showed due to genetic recombination occurring during the sexual reproduction of C. militaris. The development of C. militaris strain with increased cordycepin content by this approach can help not only to generate new C. militaris strains, but also to contribute to the health food or medicine industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.158-161
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• 2005

We have isolated fractions from Cordyceps militaris and Paecilomyces japonica and investigated their effects on the activity of rat liver cytosolic glucokinase, a key metabolic enzyme involved in carbohydrate metabolism. The dried powder of the C. militaris and P. japonica were successively extracted with ethanol and with 70% ethanol. The residue was exhaustively extracted with hot water. The extract was dialyzed against water, and to the non-dialyzable solution was added 2 volumes of ethanol. The precipitate was collected by centrifugation dispered in water, and lyophilized to afford fraction A. The residue after hot-water extraction was suspended in 5% sodium carbonate. The final residue was suspended in 5% NaOH. The alkaline suspension was purified in a similar manner as described above to afford fraction B. Hepatic glucokinase activities of the fraction A extracted from C. militaris and P. japonica were 371.4 and 379%, respectively. The fraction B was 314.2 and 147.4%. The activity of fraction B of C. militaris extracts was higher than that of P. japonica. Liver cytosolic glucokinase activity of rats fed normal diet supplemented with 0.1% C. militaris was 1316%. In conclusion, the present study has demonstrated that C. militaris extracts were able to prevent sudden postprandial peaks in blood glucose as a result of a marked increase in the liver cytosolic glucokinase activities.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.772-784
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• 2020

This study was performed to investigate the effects of taste-related compounds and antioxidatve profiles of retorted samgyetang made from fresh and dried Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) mushrooms. A total of 48 carcasses were prepared from commercial broilers (CB; Ross, 4 weeks old) and randomly distributed into eight different treatments. Each treatment group consisted of 6 chicken carcasses made with the addition of broth in different condition and concentration of C. militaris mushrooms. The addition concentration was based on the broth volume (v/w) under either fresh or dried conditions ranging from 0% as a control to 1%, 2%, and 3% of C. militaris mushrooms. C. militaris mushrooms contributed to an improvement of meat tenderness and the antioxidative profile that led to a greater suppression of lipid oxidation. The addition of C. militaris mushrooms at 2% could also enrich the flavor and taste-related compounds, particularly the increase in 5'-AMP and umami-related free amino acid compounds, L-aspartic acid and L-glutamic acid. Different addition forms of C. militaris mushrooms, particularly fresh or dried mushrooms, had only small effects on bioactive compounds, where the dried addition could possibly enrich samgyetang broth with higher cordycepin and adenosine contents than the fresh addition. Besides, the addition of C. militaris mushrooms in the dried form could also contribute to a higher antioxidative profile. Eventually, the addition of C. militaris mushrooms with a minimum addition of 2% contributed to an improvement of meat quality, antioxidative profile and flavor improvement of samgyetang.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2023

This study aimed to verify the whitening effect of Cordyceps militaris, which is distributed in several countries worldwide, including Korea, Japan, and China, and has various medical effects. To screen the efficacy of C. militaris, the inhibitory activity of tyrosinase, which was 66% at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, was measured. Thereafter, the survival rate of melanoma cells was measured, and cell experiments were conducted at a concentration of 90% or more in which C. militaris was not toxic to cells. After measuring the inhibitory effect of TRP-1, TRP-2, tyrosinase protein, and mRNA expression, which are factors influencing melanin synthesis, C. militaris was found to decrease in all factors, with an expression level that was significantly lower compared to quercetin. This confirmed that C. militaris stimulated with LED has excellent whitening activity and can be used as a functional whitening cosmetics material.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.172-176
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming an important public health problem as metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes have become epidemic. In this study we investigated the protective effect of Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) against NAFLD in an obese mouse model. MATERIALS/METHODS: Four-week-old male ob/ob mice were fed an AIN-93G diet or a diet containing 1% C. militaris water extract for 10 weeks after 1 week of adaptation. Serum glucose, insulin, free fatty acid (FFA), alanine transaminase (ALT), and proinflammatory cytokines were measured. Hepatic levels of lipids, glutathione (GSH), and lipid peroxide were determined. RESULTS: Consumption of C. militaris significantly decreased serum glucose, as well as homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), in ob/ob mice. In addition to lowering serum FFA levels, C. militaris also significantly decreased hepatic total lipids and triglyceride contents. Serum ALT activities and tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were reduced by C. militaris. Consumption of C. militaris increased hepatic GSH and reduced lipid peroxide levels. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that C. militaris can exert protective effects against development of NAFLD, partly by reducing inflammatory cytokines and improving hepatic antioxidant status in ob/ob mice.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.1223-1232
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• 2017

Cordyceps militaris, a member of Ascomycota, a mushroom referred to as caterpillar Dong-chung-ha-cho, is commercially valuable because of its high content of bioactive substances, including cordycepin, and its potential for artificial cultivation. Cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine) is highly associated with the pharmacological effects of C. militaris. C. militaris is heterothallic in that two mating-type loci, idiomorph MAT1-1 and MAT1-2, exist discretely in two different spores. In this study, nine C. militaris strains were mated with each other to prepare newly bred strains that produced a larger amount of cordycepin than the parent strains. Nine strains of C. militaris were identified by comparing the internal transcribed spacer sequence, and a total of 12 single spores were isolated from the nine strains of C. militaris. After the MAT idiomorph was confirmed by PCR, 36 mating combinations were performed with six single spores with MAT1-1 and the others with MAT1-2. Eight mating combinations were successfully mated, producing stroma with perithecia. Cordycepin content analysis of all strains by high-performance liquid chromatography revealed that the KASP4-bred strain produced the maximum cordycepin among all strains, regardless of the medium and stroma parts. Finally, universal rice primer-PCR was performed to demonstrate that the bred strains were genetically different from the parental strains and new C. militaris strains. These results may be related to the recombination of genes during mating. The newly produced strains can be used to meet the industrial demand for cordycepin. In addition, breeding through mating suggests the possibility of producing numerous cordycepin-producing C. militaris strains.