Reduction of bowman-birk protease inhibitor levels in plants

A method for reducing the level of a Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor in a plant which comprises

• (a) transforming plant cells with a chimeric gene comprising a nucleic acid fragment having a sequence identity of at least 75% when compared to a nucleic acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:3 or a complement thereof which is operably linked to a promoter;
• (b) growing fertile mature plants from the transformed plant cells obtained from step (a) to obtain seeds;
• and
• (c) selecting from the seeds of step (b) those seeds containing reduced levels of the Bowman-Birk protease inhibitor when compared to plants not containing the chimeric gene.