Variation in symbiont fitness during co-inoculations did not measurably affect plant performance, suggesting that predicted conflict over the joint phenotype of rhizobia fitness has negligible effect on the host.

However, ineffective strains exhibited genotypic variation in their fitness in nodules within individual nodules co-infected with a beneficial strain, suggesting a role for symbiont competitiveness in shaping this joint phenotype.

In mixed infections, ineffective strains always had lower relative fitness in nodules compared to beneficial strains, consistent with efficient punishment of non-fixing rhizobia.

We co-inoculated four A. strigosus plant lines with nine combinations of effective and ineffective Bradyrhizobium strains and measured the relative fitness of ineffective strains within individual nodules, as hosts must select against uncooperative symbionts to maintain benefits.

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