Order of Arrival and Nutrient Supply Alter Outcomes of Coinfection with Two Fungal Pathogens

A pathogen arriving on a host typically encounters a diverse community of microbes that can shape priority effects, other within-host interactions and infection outcomes. In plants, environmental nutrients can drive trade-offs between host growth and defence and can mediate interactions between co-infecting pathogens. Nutrients may thus alter the outcome of pathogen priority effects for the host, but this possibility has received little experimental investigation. To disentangle the relationship between nutrient availability and co-infection dynamics, we factorially manipulated the nutrient availability and order of arrival of two foliar fungal pathogens ( Rhizoctonia solani and Colletotrichum cereale ) on the grass tall fescue ( Lolium arundinaceum ) and tracked disease outcomes. Nutrient addition did not influence infection rates, infection severity or plant biomass. Colletotrichum cereale facilitated R. solani , increasing its infection rate regardless of their order of inoculation. Additionally, simultaneous and C. cereale -first inoculations decreased plant growth and—in plants that did not receive nutrient addition—increased leaf nitrogen concentrations compared to uninoculated plants. These effects were partially, but not completely, explained by the duration and severity of pathogen infections. This study highlights the importance of understanding the intricate associations between the order of pathogen arrival, host nutrient availability and host defence to better predict infection outcomes.