Root-preferred promoter from a brachypodium distachyon metallothionein-like gene

1. A gene expression cassette comprising a promoter operably linked to a heterologous nucleic acid, wherein the promoter comprises a polynucleotide comprising a sequence identity of at least 97% to SEQ ID NO:1, and said promoter has below ground tissue preferred expression.

2. The gene expression cassette of claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide further comprises an intron.

3. The gene expression cassette of claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide further comprises a 5′ UTR.

4. The gene expression cassette of claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide is operably linked to a 3′ UTR.

5. The gene expression cassette of claim 4 , wherein the 3′ UTR comprises SEQ ID NO:3.

6. The gene expression cassette of claim 1 , wherein the operably linked heterologous nucleic acid encodes a polypeptide or a small RNA gene.

7. The gene expression cassette of claim 1 , wherein the heterologous nucleic acid is selected from the group consisting of a heterologous nucleic acid conferring insecticidal resistance, a heterologous nucleic acid conferring herbicide tolerance, a heterologous nucleic acid conferring nitrogen use efficiency, a heterologous nucleic acid conferring water use efficiency, a heterologous nucleic acid conferring nutritional quality, a heterologous nucleic acid encoding a DNA binding protein, and a heterologous nucleic acid encoding a selectable marker.

8. A recombinant vector comprising the gene expression cassette of claim 1 , wherein the vector is selected from the group consisting of a plasmid, a cosmid, a bacterial artificial chromosome, a virus, and a bacteriophage.

9. A transgenic cell comprising the gene expression cassette of claim 1 .

10. The transgenic cell of claim 9 , wherein the transgenic cell is a transgenic plant cell.

11. A transgenic plant comprising the transgenic plant cell of claim 10 .

12. The transgenic plant of claim 11 , wherein the transgenic plant is a monocotyledonous plant or a dicotyledonous plant.

13. The transgenic plant of claim 12 , wherein the monocotyledonous plant is selected from the group consisting of a maize plant, a rice plant, and a wheat plant.

14. A transgenic seed from the transgenic plant of claim 12 , wherein the seed comprises the gene expression cassette.

15. The gene expression cassette of claim 1 , wherein the promoter comprises the polynucleotide sequence of nucleotides 1 to 2,000 of SEQ ID NO:1.

16. A method for expressing a coding sequence in a transgenic plant, the method comprising:

a) transforming a plant cell with a gene expression cassette comprising a polynucleotide sequence comprising a sequence identity of at least 97% to SEQ ID NO:1 operably linked to a heterologous coding sequence, which is operably linked to a 3′ untranslated region;

b) isolating the transformed plant cell comprising the gene expression cassette;

c) regenerating a transgenic plant from the transformed plant cell; and,

d) obtaining the transgenic plant, wherein the transgenic plant expresses the coding sequence with below ground tissue preferred expression.

17. A method for manufacturing a synthetic polynucleotide sequence comprising a sequence identity of at least 97% to SEQ ID NO:1, the method comprising:

a) isolating a nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence comprising SEQ ID NO:1;

b) producing a plurality of oligonucleotide primer sequences, wherein the oligonucleotide primer sequences bind to the nucleic acid under stringent hybridization conditions;

c) ligating the plurality of oligonucleotide primer sequences to synthesize a synthetic polynucleotide sequence; and,

d) sequencing the resulting synthetic polynucleotide to confirm that it comprises at least 97% identity to SEQ ID NO:1.