Provided are constructs and methods for expressing a trans gene in plant cells and/or plant tissues using chimeric gene regulatory elements. Specifically, a construct includes a gene expression cassette comprising a chimeric polynucleotide sequence comprising an upstream-promoter polynucleotide sequence that was obtained from Zea mays Peroxidase 5 and followed by the Zea mays alcohol dehydrogenase (I) intron 6 and Maize Streak Virus 5' -UTR. The resulting promoter sequence comprises a chimeric gene regulatory element. Further disclosed are methods of growing plants expressing a trans gene using the chimeric gene promoter regulatory element.
