Genetic Independence of Naturally Correlated Variation in Resistance to Endemic and Novel Pathogens

The emergence of new diseases is an urgent concern, but hosts can also vary in resistance to pathogens that are novel to them, facilitating evolutionary rescue. However, little is known about the genetic source for polymorphic resistance to novel pathogens or its relationship to defences against endemic diseases. With anther-smut disease from wild plant populations, we used selection experiments and genetic analyses to show that resistances to novel and endemic pathogens are genetically independent, despite being positively correlated in nature. Moreover, novel-pathogen resistance presented a much simpler genetic basis and more rapid response to selection. We demonstrate that polymorphic resistance to a newly introduced disease is genetically determined and not an extension of defences against the related endemic pathogen, challenging the conventional view of nonhost resistance.