Figure 3: Host survival in evolutionary treatments differing in initial pathogen exposure time points . The time point of initial infection varied for infection to the pathogen every two generations (2.1. and 2.2) or every five generations (5.1. or 5.2.) but does not influence the outcome. Closed symbols indicate initial pathogen presence (Host generation 1), open symbols indicate later pathogen presence (Generation 2 for 2.1. and 2.2. and Generation 5 for 5.1. and 5.2.). Bigger symbols represent mean ± S.E and consists of six biological replicates and four technical replicates of the sympatric pairs. Smaller symbols indicate the data distribution. Letters indicate results of a GLMM, followed by a Tukey Post-hoc Test. The same letter indicates no significant difference. Axis scales were chosen to be the same across all plots.
As an additional form of pathogen heterogeneity, the impact of the timing of initial pathogen infection on the evolution of microbe-mediated protection was investigated. An effect of different initial pathogen infection time points on host survival following pathogen infection was observed (Mixed Effects Model: X2=7.945, df=3, p=0.04716 Figure 3), although a Tukey Post-Hoc test revealed no significant differences (Table A1).