Abstract
Inbreeding in local host populations will be a common phenomenon in host–pathogen systems that are characterized by metapopulation dynamics, i.e., frequent extinction and recolonization of local host populations by small numbers of founding individuals. As an example of a pathosystem with metapopulation dynamics we investigated the impact of inbreeding in the host plant Silene alba on its interaction with the anther-smut fungus Microbotryum violaceum. Seeds from eight populations of S. alba were sampled, and five generations of sib mating resulted in 65 inbred lines, with inbreeding coefficients of f = 0, 0.25, 0.375, 0.5, and 0.59 per line. In a first experiment these lines were tested for active, biochemical resistance against fungal infection, by artificially inoculating individuals. The percentage of infected individuals differed significantly among populations, lines, and inbreeding levels, and both population-by-inbreeding level and line-by-inbreeding level interactions were significant. The most st...
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