The present invention relates to synthetic
enhancer elements that can be used to increase the expression of a
gene of interest in any
plant tissue. The disclosed synthetic
enhancer elements can be used in a
gene expression cassette comprising
nucleic acid further comprising a
promoter and a sequence to be expressed, wherein the sequence to be expressed has a
transcription start site, and wherein the synthetic
enhancer element is operably linked to the
promoter and the sequence to be expressed. The present invention also relates to a modified
plant or part thereof comprising a synthetic enhancer element, wherein the synthetic enhancer element is operably linked to an endogenous
promoter in the modified
plant or part thereof and an endogenous
gene in the modified plant or part thereof, and wherein the synthetic enhancer element increases expression of a transcript or
protein encoded by the endogenous gene.