Illumina MiSeq sequencing investigation of Chanhua (Cordyceps cicadae Shing) fungal community structures in different regions

This study was carried out to elucidate the fungal diversity of Chanhua (Cordyceps cicadae Shing), which is an entomogenous fungal parasite that grows on wingless cicada nymphs.

Samples were collected from 10 different geographical regions including Yibing in Sichuan Province, Jiangsu Province, Jiangxi Province, Anhui Province, Guangdong Province, and Guangxi Autonomous Region. The Illumina MiSeq-based method was used to investigate the Chanhua fungal community structures.

The results showed high fungal diversity, with 22 families found in the different samples, Eurotiomycetes was the dominant fungal family associated with Chanhua (composing 36.69% of the sample from Sichuan Mianyang), whereas Cordycipitaceae only composed 0.51% (Sichuan Yibing) to 0.33% (Guangdong) of these samples. Surprisingly, the proportion of Capnodiales was 5.27% in Sichuan Mianyang, whereas the percentage in other regions ranged from 4.35% (Sichuan Yibing) to 2.55% (Zhejiang), and the remaining proportion (more than 80%) was made up of unidentified fungus.

These findings contribute to a better understanding of Chanhua from different regions and revealed an unexpectedly and high amount of unidentified diversity of these fungal communities. These results indicate that Chanhua parasitic fungi need to be further analyzed and identified for finding new medical fungi resources.