The antibiotic, 2, 4-diacetylphloroglucinol (Phl), is produced by a range of naturally occurring fluorescent pseudomonads. One isolate, P.fluorescens F113, protects pea plants from the pathogenic fungus, Pythium ultimum, by reducing the number of pathogenic lesions on plant roots but with a concurrent reduction in the emergence of plants such as pea. The genes responsible for Phl production have been shown to be functionally conserved between the wild type (wt) P. fluorescens strains F113 and Q2-87. In this study the genes from F113 were isolated using an optimised long PCR method and a 6.7-kb gene cluster inserted into the chromosome of the non-Phl producing P. fluorescens strain SBW25 EeZY6KX. This strain is a lacZY, km R marked derivative of the wild type SBW25 which effects biological control against the plant pathogen, Pythium ultimum by competitive exclusion as a result of its strong rhizosphere colonising ability. We describe here the integration of the Phl antifungal and competitive exclusion mechanisms into a single strain, and the impact this has on survival and plant emergence in microcosms. The insertion of the Phl biosynthetic genes from the F113, into the SBW25 chromosome gave a Phl-producing transformant (strain Pa21) able to suppress P. ultimum through antibiotic production. The growth of Pa21 was not reduced in flask culture at 20 o C, compared with its parent strain. When inoculated on pea seedlings, the strain containing the Phl operon behaved similarly to the SBW25 EeZY6KX parent but did not show the tendency of the wt Phl producer F113 to cause lower pea seed emergence. SBW25 EeZY6KX has significantly lower indigenous populations in the root than the F113 and control. This is indicative of this strain's strong colonising presence. Pa21, the Phl-modified strain is able to exclude the resident population from roots to the same degree as the SBW25 EeZY6KX from which it is derived. This suggests that it has maintained its competitiveness around the root systems of plants even with the introduction of the Phl locus. Thus, strain Pa21 possesses the qualities necessary to provide effective