The Zea mays c.v. B73 Ubiquitin-1 (Z. mays c.v. B73 Ubi-1) promoter drives high levels of constitutive transgene expression in plants. Repeated use of the same Z. mays c.v. B73 Ubi-1 promoter in multi-gene constructs may also lead to gene silencing, thereby making transgenic products less efficacious. Provided are gene regulatory promoter elements, constructs, and methods for expressing a transgene in plant cells and/or plant tissues using gene regulatory elements from the Ubi-1 promoter of a different Z. mays genotype, Z. mays c.v. Hi-II.