The present invention relates to isolated actin and .beta.-actin nucleic
acid promoter molecules from shrimp; nucleic acid expression cassettes
including actin and .beta.-actin promoter molecules isolated from shrimp;
and expression vectors, host cells, and transgenic animals transduced
with the isolated actin and .beta.-actin nucleic acid promoter. Also
disclosed are methods for imparting to an animal resistance against a
pathogen; regulating growth of an animal; increasing stress tolerance in
an animal; and increasing cold tolerance in an animal that involve
transforming an animal with a nucleic acid construct including the
isolated actin and .beta.-actin nucleic acid promoter molecules of the
present invention. The present invention also relates to isolated nucleic
acid molecules encoding for actin and .beta.-actin proteins or
polypeptides, as well as the proteins or polypeptides themselves.
