A DNA vector is provided for stable insertion and expression of
heterologous genes in the plastid genomes of any Angiosperm plant cell.
In this vector, foreign genes can be inserted in multiple cloning sites
located at an artificial intergenic region obtained from the combination
of atpB and rbcL operons that belong to plants of different Classes
(dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous). The expression cassette is
inserted into the plastid genome by homologous recombination between the
atpB and rbcL border sequences of the vector with the corresponding
homologous regions of plastid genome; in such a way that more than one
gene of interest can be expressed under the transcriptional control of
the rbcL promoter adjacent to the border region that encodes for the atpB
gene.