Patent ID: 8143474

Claim:
A nucleic acid construct for high levels of translation for increasing heterologous protein production in a plastid of a higher plant, said construct comprising in the 5′ to 3′ direction, a) a 5′ nucleic acid sequence comprising a 49 nucleotide segment of the native cry9Aa2 5′-UTR of SEQ ID NO:4; b) a nucleic acid sequence encoding at least one heterologous protein or polypeptide of interest; and c) a transcription termination region, said construct optionally further comprising a nucleic acid encoding a selectable marker, wherein a), b) and c), and said selectable marker encoding nucleic acid, if present, are flanked by homologous nucleic acid sequences obtained from the genome of said plastid, said homologous nucleic acid sequences directing homologous recombination of said construct into said plastid genome, such that said heterologous protein or polypeptide is produced.