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Cooperation is associated with major transitions in evolution such as the emergence of multicellularity. It is central to the evolution of many complex traits in nature, including growth and virulence in pathogenic bacteria. Whether cells of multicellular parasites function cooperatively during infection remains, however, largely unknown.

The LIPM researchers demonstrate in this article that hyphal cells making the filaments of the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum reprogram towards division of labor to facilitate the colonization of host plants. Using global transcriptome sequencing, they reveal that gene expression patterns diverge markedly in cells at the center and apex of hyphae during Arabidopsis thaliana colonization compared with in vitro growth.

The authors then reconstructed a genome-scale metabolic model for S. sclerotiorum and used metabolic flux balance analysis to demonstrate metabolic heterogeneity supporting division of labor between hyphal cells. Accordingly, continuity between the central and apical compartments of invasive hyphae was required for optimal growth in planta. Using a multicell model of fungal hyphae, we show that this cooperative functioning enhances fungal growth predominantly during host colonization. This work identifies cooperation in fungal hyphae as a mechanism emerging at the multicellular level to support host colonization and virulence.

These results establish cooperation as a mechanism supporting diseases caused by fungal pathogens that should be considered in the design of disease management strategies.