Phage selection drives resistance-virulence trade-offs in Ralstonia solanacearum plant pathogenic bacterium irrespective of the growth temperature

While temperature has been shown to affect the survival and growth of bacteria and their phage parasites, it is unclear if trade-offs between phage resistance and other bacterial traits depend on the temperature. Here, we experimentally compared the evolution of phage resistance-virulence trade-offs and underlying molecular mechanisms in phytopathogenic Ralstonia solanacearum bacterium at 25 °C and 35 °C temperature environments. We found that experimental growth conditions selected for small colony variants (SCVs) with increased growth rate and mutations in the quorum-sensing (QS) signalling receptor gene, phcS. Interestingly, SCVs were also phage-resistant and reached higher frequencies in the presence of phages in both temperature environments. Evolving phage resistance was costly in terms of reduced carrying capacity, biofilm formation and reduced virulence in planta possibly due to loss of QS-mediated expression of key virulence genes. We also observed mucoid phage-resistant coloni..., , , # Phage selection drives resistance-virulence trade-offs in Ralstonia solanacearum plant pathogenic bacterium irrespective of the growth temperature

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tdz08kq5d](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tdz08kq5d)
This is an experiment focused on the coevolution of Ralstonia solanacearum and phages. We gathered information concerning the growth of R. solanacearum and the presence of phages at various stages of the experiment. Subsequent to isolating the evolved strains, we conducted assessments of their fundamental characteristics, encompassing growth parameters, motility, biofilm formation capability, and pathogenicity. Furthermore, we performed genomic analysis on these evolved strains, identified pivotal genes through SNP analysis, and corroborated the functionality of these genes via experimental assays.

## Description of the data and file structure

Datasets included:

1. transfer OD
• every two days’ OD600 value of each replicate in R. solanacearum -phage s...