Compositions and related methods for modulating transcriptional activation by incorporating gag motifs upstream of core promoter elements

A plant comprising an expression vector comprising four copies of a tripartite G-box like element/AT-rich element/GCC-like box element (GAG) motif operably linked to a heterologous promoter, wherein the G-box like element comprises the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:

• 8, wherein the AT-rich element comprises the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 11, wherein the GCC-like box element comprises the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 7, wherein the four copies of the tripartite GAG motif are capable of inducing the heterologous promoter in the presence of methyl jasmonate, and wherein the promoter is operably linked to (a) a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide or (b) a polynucleotide encoding an inhibitory nucleic acid molecule.