Patent ID: 7504555

Claim:
A method for producing transplastomic monocots, said method comprising: a) obtaining embryogenic cells from a monocot; b) exposing said cells to biolistic bombardment with a heterologous DNA molecule under conditions whereby said DNA enters the plastids of said cells, said heterologous DNA molecule encoding at least one exogenous protein, wherein said at least one exogenous protein is a selectable marker; c) applying a selection agent to said cells to facilitate sorting of untransformed plastids from transformed plastids, said cells containing transformed plastids surviving and dividing in the presence of said selection agent; d) transferring said surviving cells to selective media to promote shoot regeneration and growth; and e) rooting said shoots, thereby producing transplastomic monocot plants, wherein said heterologous DNA molecule comprises the chimeric 5′ regulatory region of SEQ ID NO:6, which includes a promoter element, a leader sequence and the downstream box element of SEQ ID NO:29, operably linked to the coding region of said at least one exogenous protein, said chimeric regulatory region enhancing translational efficiency of an encoded mRNA molecule relative to constructs lacking said chimeric regulatory region.