The present invention relates to expression cassettes comprising transcription regulating sequences with meristem-preferential or meristem-specific expression profiles in plants obtainable from Arabidopsis thaliana genes At2g02180, At5g54510, At2g26970, At2g01180, At3g45560, At4g00580, At1g54480, or At4g11490, or the Arabidopsis thaliana genomic sequences as described by SEQ ID NO: 35 or 36.