$re = '/(^-[^\n]*\n\h+|(?!^)\G)([^\n]*)\n(?!-)\h+/m';
$str = ' abc
def
- test 1
test test test
test test test
test test test
- test2
- test3
test test t
test test test
- test 4
test test test
- test5';
$subst = "$1$2 ";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php