The Puppeteer Fungus: A Deadly Takeover of Zombie Flies.

A new study published in eLife reveals the molecular and cellular underpinnings behind the parasitic fungus, Entomophthora muscae's (E. muscae), ability to manipulate the behavior of fruit flies. The fungus drives the release of a hormone that causes the flies to have a burst of locomotor activity, positioning them in an advantageous location for the fungus to spread to the most possible hosts. The team also discovered that the flies' blood-brain barrier is compromised when exposed to the fungus, allowing things that are circulating in the blood to interact with neurons in the brain, thus providing a route for modulating neural activity.