Multiline varieties and disease control : 5. The 'dirty crop' approach with complex mixtures of genotypes based on overlapping gene sets

A general model for the evolution of pathogen populations on mixtures or multilines is developed. This model is used to extend previous analyses of the effects of the widespread cultivation of multilines on the evolution of virulence in obligate parasites to mixtures of lines carrying different numbers of resistance genes. It is concluded that the composition of an equilibrium pathogen population growing on a multiline may vary within wide limits and the prinicipal determinant of its composition is the number of components in the multiline and the resistance genes they carry. Other factors of importance are (i) the relative contribution made by each host class (with different numbers of resistance genes) to the pathogen spore pool each generation; (ii) the levels of ‘stabilizing selection’ against unnecessary virulence genes; and (iii) the way in which unnecessary genes for virulence combine to reduce pathogen fitness. Conditions for the fixation of avirulent biotypes in the pathogen population and the evolution of a pathogen superrace are given for multilines of various compositions.