Cooperation

Further information: Co-operation (evolution)

Not all co-evolved interactions between species involve conflict.[228] Many cases of mutually beneficial
interactions have evolved. For instance, an extreme cooperation exists between plants and
the mycorrhizal fungi that grow on their roots and aid the plant in absorbing nutrients from the
soil.[229] This is a reciprocal relationship as the plants provide the fungi with sugars
from photosynthesis. Here, the fungi actually grow inside plant cells, allowing them to exchange
nutrients with their hosts, while sending signals that suppress the plant immune system.[230]
Coalitions between organisms of the same species have also evolved. An extreme case is
the eusociality found in social insects, such as bees, termites and ants, where sterile insects feed
and guard the small number of organisms in a colony that are able to reproduce. On an even smaller
scale, the somatic cells that make up the body of an animal limit their reproduction so they can
maintain a stable organism, which then supports a small number of the animal's germ cells to
produce offspring. Here, somatic cells respond to specific signals that instruct them whether to grow,
remain as they are, or die. If cells ignore these signals and multiply inappropriately, their
uncontrolled growth causes cancer.[231]
Such cooperation within species may have evolved through the process of kin selection, which is
where one organism acts to help raise a relative's offspring.[232] This activity is selected for because if
the helping individual contains alleles which promote the helping activity, it is likely that its kin
will also contain these alleles and thus those alleles will be passed on.[233]Other processes that may
promote cooperation include group selection, where cooperation provides benefits to a group of
organisms.[234]