Epidermal tissue promoter derived from potato for monocots

A method of expressing a heterologous gene comprising:

• a. providing an expression cassette comprising SEQ ID NO:
• 1, operably linked to a heterologous gene, wherein the expression cassette is functional in a plant, plant tissue, or plant cell;
• and
• b. creating a plant, plant tissue, or plant cell comprising the expression cassette, wherein the heterologous gene is expressed.

An expression cassette comprising:

• a. a 5′-regulatory sequence comprising the following regions of a Chitinase C gene obtained from Solanum tuberosum:
• i. a promoter,
• ii. a first exon,
• iii. a first intron, and
• iv. a 5′ portion of a second exon,
• wherein said 5′-regulatory sequence has been engineered to include a translational initiation codon at the 3′ end of said 5′-regulatory sequence, and not to contain additional translation initiation codons upstream of said translation initiation codon;
• and
• b. a nucleic acid molecule operably linked to said 5′-regulatory sequence, wherein said nucleic acid molecule is heterologous to the 5′-regulatory sequence, and
• wherein the product of the expression of said nucleic acid molecule is targeted to the epidermal tissue of a plant.

A method of making an expression cassette comprising the steps of:

• a. obtaining a 5′-regulatory sequence comprising the following regions of a Chitinase C gene obtained from Solanum tuberosum:
• i. a promoter,
• ii. a first exon,
• iii. a first intron, and
• iv. a 5′ portion of a second exon,
• wherein said 5′-regulatory sequence has been engineered to include a translational initiation codon at the 3′ end of said 5′-regulatory sequence, and not to contain additional translation initiation codons upstream of said translation initiation codon;
• and
• b. operably linking a nucleic acid molecule to said 5′-regulatory sequence, wherein said nucleic acid molecule is heterologous to the 5′-regulatory sequence, and
• wherein the product of the expression of said nucleic acid molecule is targeted to the epidermal tissue of a plant.