The present invention relates to the field of molecular biology and more particularly to promoters useful for metabolic engineering in yeast or fungi for the production of biobased chemicals with broad applications. Intron-containing promoters with strong activity during oil- accumulation stages are particularly useful for genetic engineering in yeast and fungi, particularly Rhodosporidium or Rhodotorula genera. Such promoter are capable of driving strong expression of RNA or proteins in species of the Rhodosporidium or Rhodotorula genera.