Indigenous nodule-forming bacteria associated with French bean can differ substantially in functional phenotype, while plant responses to inoculation may also depend on external nitrogen (N) availability. This study evaluated functional variation among nodule-forming bacterial isolates recovered from French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and examined how selected isolates interacted with four mineral-N levels (0, 30, 60, and 100 kg N ha⁻¹) to influence plant growth, nodulation, N accumulation, physiological responses, and productivity. Fifty probable isolates were initially recovered from French bean nodules and tested for nodule-forming ability. Thirty-five indigenous isolates were authenticated by plant infection tests and subsequently screened in sand culture under net-house conditions. Ten comparatively effective isolates were selected for the mineral-N experiment and evaluated together with Rhizobium leguminosarum MTCC 10,096 and an uninoculated control in a completely randomized design with three biological replications. The isolates exhibited phenotypic, functional, and carbon-substrate-utilization diversity. In the pot experiment, isolate treatment, mineral-N availability, and their interaction influenced several plant traits. Increasing mineral N generally enhanced vegetative growth, biomass production, plant N accumulation, and grain yield while progressively suppressing nodulation. RD20-3 and RK3-1 were among the isolates associated with comparatively favorable responses across several plant traits, although their relative performance varied with trait and N level and nodulation of both declined as mineral N increased. Apparent inoculation-derived nitrogen gain (AING), calculated as the difference in total plant N uptake between inoculated and corresponding uninoculated treatments at the same N level, did not consistently correspond with nodule abundance. Multivariate analysis separated a dominant plant-performance/N-acquisition axis from a nodulation-dominated response axis. These results show that isolate functional differences interact with mineral-N availability to generate contrasting French bean growth, nodulation, N accumulation, and productivity responses. Because molecular identification of the indigenous isolates, nodule-occupancy confirmation, and direct N₂-fixation measurements were not undertaken, the results should not be interpreted as demonstrating taxonomic identity or isolate-specific symbiotic N₂-fixation efficiency.

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