A tomato promoter (LeExp-1 shown in SEQ ID NO: 1) was isolated which can direct a high level of fruit-specific expression. This promoter can be fused to any DNA sequence (including, but not limited to, plant, animal, fungal, algal, and bacterial genes that encode proteins as well as DNA sequences that produce biologically active RNAs following transcription, including antisense RNAs and ribozymes) to direct a high level of transcription in tomato fruit.