This invention describes pathogen-inducible promoters which normally drive expression of plant hexose oxidases, especially those which can be isolated from Helianthus annuus and Lactuca sativa, more specifically those promoters which naturally are the regulatory regions driving expression of the hexose oxidase MS59 and WL64, respectively. Also claimed are chimeric constructs where these pathogen-inducible promoters drive expression of antipathogenic proteins or of proteins which can elicit a hypersensitive response.