Compositions and methods for regulating expression of heterologous polynucleotide sequences in a plant are provided. Compositions are novel nucleotide sequences comprising an isolated stress-induced promoter natively linked to the maize CBF1 or CBF2 coding region. A method for expressing a heterologous polynucleotide sequence in a plant using the regulatory sequences disclosed herein is provided. The method comprises transforming a plant cell to comprise a heterologous polynucleotide sequence operably linked to one or more of the regulatory sequences of the present invention and regenerating a stably transformed plant from the transformed plant cell.