ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,305,178, issued on May 20, was assigned to Monsanto Technology LLC (St. Louis).

"Plant regulatory elements and uses thereof" was invented by Stanislaw Flasinski (Ballwin, Mo.), Jun Zhang (O'Fallon, Mo.) and Suling Zhao (St. Charles, Mo.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Recombinant DNA molecules and constructs including sequences derived from Digitaria sanguinalis are provided, which are useful for modulating gene expression in plants. Transgenic plants, plant cells, plant parts, and seeds are also provided, comprising a recombinant DNA molecule operably linked to a heterologous transcribable DNA molecule, as well as methods of their use."...