Data from: Host avoidance and resistance vary independently and are specific to parasite genotype

Hosts can reduce the negative fitness effects of parasite infection by
avoiding contact with parasites or by resisting infection after contact.
Because of their shared outcome, avoidance and resistance have been
hypothesized to trade off with one another. Assuming these defenses carry
fitness costs, hosts are expected to have high levels of one defense or
the other, but not both. Alternatively, avoidance and resistance may
covary positively, if, for example, they complement one another or are
genetically or mechanistically linked. Testing these hypotheses requires
measuring avoidance and resistance independently, which is challenging
because they are functionally linked. In this study, we separated
avoidance and resistance of the host C. elegans against the bacterial
parasite S. marcescens and tested for a correlation between them. We
phenotyped a panel of 12 genetically divergent hosts using two distinct
bacterial strains and multiple experimental contexts. We found no evidence
of a correlation between avoidance and resistance. This result suggests
that avoidance and resistance can covary independently. Moreover, we found
strong genetic specificity not only for resistance, but also for a measure
of avoidance, motivating further research to examine the coevolutionary
dynamics of avoidance.