Resistance “This shift toward resistance occurs at different rates depending on the number of genes conferring resistance. When single gene mutations confer resistance, a rapid shift toward resistance may occur, leading to a population that is predominantly resistant and where control is abruptly lost (Figure 1A). When multiple genes are involved, the shift toward resistance progresses slowly, leading to a reduced sensitivity of the entire population
(Figure 1B).” (https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/fungicide-resistance-management.html) Unlike what is written in textbooks, chemical warfare and antibiotics were not invented in the 20th century. They’ve been utilized by microbes for much, much longer. We merely discovered them as products made by microorganisms in their chemical warfare arsenal. What better way to ensure that multiple modes of action are used than to promote an abundance of the organisms that produce the chemicals we use to make our chemical products in the first place!

The real question we need to be asking and answering is this: What causes disease risk in the first place? Grassland microcosms with poorly developed microbial networks and reduced microbial richness had the lowest multifunctionality due to fewer taxa present that support the same function (redundancy) and lower diversity of taxa that support different functions (reduced  functional uniqueness). (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12798-y)