Parasites and competitors suppress bacterial pathogen synergistically due to evolutionary trade-offs

Parasites and competitors are important for regulating pathogen densities and subsequent disease dynamics. It is, however, unclear to what extent this is driven by ecological and evolutionary processes. Here we used experimental evolution to study the eco-evolutionary feedbacks between Ralstonia solanacearum bacterial pathogen, Ralstonia-specific phage parasite and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens competitor bacterium in the laboratory and plant rhizosphere. We found that while the phage had a small effect on pathogen densities on its own, it considerably increased the R. solanacearum sensitivity to antibiotics produced by B. amyloliquefaciens. Instead of density effects, this synergy was due to phage-driven increase in phage resistance that led to trade-off with the resistance to B. amyloliquefaciens antibiotics. While no evidence was found for pathogen resistance evolution to B. amyloliquefaciens antibiotics, the fitness cost of adaptation (reduced growth) was highest when the pathogen had ...