The present invention relates to the expression of recombinant nucleic acids in plants. More specifically, the invention provides an Arabidopsis stomatal-specific promoter (AtMYB60 promoter--SEQ ID NO: l)for the selective expression of nucleic acids in stomatal guard cells, gene constructs containing the promoter, expression vectors carrying such and plants transfected therewith. The selective expression of nucleic acids in plant guard cells allows the regulation of stomatal opening/closing states thereby modulating, e. g. increasing, the plant ability to resist to adverse environmental or climatic conditions.