| CPC C40B 30/06 (2013.01) | 12 Claims | 

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               1. A method for in-planta high throughput evaluation of endogenous genetic regulatory elements of a crop plant, the method comprising the steps of: 
            a. obtaining a nucleic acid of a native promoter regulatory element of a trait-related gene, coupling it to a coding sequence of a reporter gene having a native function in the crop plant; wherein the regulatory element is of the crop plant; 
                b. introducing one or more random genetic changes in each of a plurality of copies of the native regulatory element, thereby obtaining a genetic library comprising a large collection of altered regulatory elements; 
                c. introducing the genetic library into model plants, utilizing high throughput stable transformation, such that on average each model plant receives a single altered regulatory element; 
                d. screening the transformed model plants, wherein the screening comprises selecting a model plant having a desired change in phenotype thereof, said change is correlated to expression level of the reporter gene; and 
                e. identifying the one or more genetic changes in the altered regulatory element of the selected model plant. 
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