An objective of the present invention is to provide promoters having
seed-specific promoter activity, and methods of expressing foreign
proteins in seeds. The present inventors isolated the promoter of
ADP-Glucose pyrophosphorylase which is expressed in rice seeds,
constructed binary vectors in which the ADP-Glucose pyrophosphorylase
promoter is inserted upstream of the GUS reporter gene, and transformed
rice using the Agrobacterium method. GUS expression level was used as an
index to examine the site of expression, the expression pattern during
seed maturation, and the level of expression in seeds for the ADP-Glucose
Pyrophosphorylase promoter. Expression was found in the embryo during
early stage of maturation and in the entire seed during maturation.
Expression in late stage of maturation in embryo was very high.