Figure 2

Competitive fitness of the sif2 (Pfl01_2143) mutant relative to wild-type Pf0-1 in Massachusetts agricultural loam soil. Black circle symbols represent the competitive index of the control experiment where differently marked wild-type Pf0-1 strains are competed against each other. Each data point represents the result from an independent experiment (four trials total). Neither strain has a competitive advantage. Grey triangle symbols represent the competitive index of the sif2 mutant relative to Pf0-1. When differently marked mutant and wild-type strains are used to co-inoculate soil, the mutant is outcompeted by the wild-type. The competitive index was calculated by dividing the ratio of mutant:wildtype on a particular day by the initial ratio at the beginning of the experiment. An asterisk indicates the differences at day 3 and day 10 are significant (p<0.05; unpaired T-test).