Claviceps purpurea, also known as ergot of rye, is an Ascomycota fungus of the Clavicipitaceae family that parasitizes a wide variety of cereals, mainly rye. The fruiting body has an elongated stem that can exceed 10 mm in length and a head of a few mm marked by ostioles.
It is a poisonous species that secretes a series of substances that produce a wide variety of conditions in the body, including vasoconstrictive effects on the circulatory system and also influencing the transmission of nerve impulses. Examples of these substances are ergocristine, ergometrine, and ergocriptine, among others.
Claviceps purpurea attacking the wheat plant. Taken and edited from: Dominique Jacquin.
The ingestion of foods made with rye contaminated by this fungus can cause important health problems, both in animals and in humans, including the disease known as ergotism, hell fire or San Antón fire.
characteristics
One or more fruiting bodies may emerge from a single elongated, purple sclerotia. These fruiting bodies appear like miniature mushrooms, with a shape reminiscent of small nails with a thin stem (4 or 5 mm wide), elongated (40 to 60 mm long) and slightly curved.
The foot is topped by a small sphere like a nail head, which has pores called ostioles. The spores are very elongated and have a thickness of 1 micrometer.
Reproduction and life cycle
The first records of this disease date back more than 2,500 years and were found in an Assyrian clay table made approximately 600 years BC. C.
During the Middle Ages, ergot poisonings were so frequent and common that they could be considered epidemics and hospitals were created for the exclusive care of people with ergotism. The friars of the order of San Antonio were in charge of attending these hospitals.
The effects of ergotamine poisoning include hallucinations, seizures, arterial contraction, abortions in pregnant women, necrosis and gangrene at the level of all the limbs leading to mutilation and generally death.
Medical uses
Although most of the alkaloids produced by ergot have adverse effects on health, some products, in appropriate quantities, have also been used for medicinal purposes. For example, the Chinese used it to contract the uterus and prevent postpartum hemorrhages.
These properties of ergot were not exploited in Western medicine until 1808, when physician John Stearns drew the attention of the medical community at the time to its potential to speed up labor and save a lot of time in the process.
Researchers have also tried medications based on these alkaloids to treat migraines, migraines, and some mental disorders.
References
- M. Dewick (2009). Medicinal Natural Products. A biosynthetic approach. UK: John Wiley and Sons.
- Claviceps purpurea. On Wikipedia. Recovered from: en.org.
- Ergot of rye. In APS, Recovered from: apsnet.org.
- Kren & L. Cvak, Eds (1999). Ergot: The Genus Claviceps. Harwood Academic Plubishers.
- Claviceps purpurea. In fungipedia mycological association. Recovered from: fungipedia.org.
- Ergot alkaloids. On Wikipedia. Recovered from: Wikipedia.org.