Methods are provided by which Oryza sativa plants and seeds thereof may be modified to express a coding region of interest using a promoter sequence operatively linked to the coding region. The promoter sequence is an isolated Oryza sativa antiquitin (OsAnt1) promoter sequence including SEQ ID NO: 1. The coding region of interest may encode a nitrogen utilization protein, suitably alanine aminotransferase. Methods to develop Oryza sativa plants that have increased biomass and seed yield are also presented. Furthermore, Oryza sativa plants may be produced that maintain a desired yield while reducing the need for high levels of nitrogen application.