The present invention relates generally to the field of molecular biology and concerns a method for improving various plant growth characteristics by modulating expression in a plant of a nucleic acid encoding a LDOX (leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase) polypeptide, a nucleic acid encoding a YRP5, a nucleic acid encoding a CK1 (Casein Kinase type I) polypeptide, a nucleic acid encoding a bHLH12-like (basic Helix Loop Helix group polypeptide, a nucleic acid encoding an ADH2 polypeptide or a nucleic acid encoding a GCN5-like polypeptide. The present invention also concerns plants having modulated expression of a nucleic acid encoding an LDOX polypeptide, or a YRP5 polypeptide, or a CK1 polypeptide, or a bHLH12-like polypeptide, or an ADH2 polypeptide, or a GCN5-like polypeptide, which plants have improved growth characteristics relative to corresponding wild type plants or other control plants. The invention also provides constructs useful in the methods of the invention. The invention also provides hitherto unknown CK1-encoding nucleic acids and hitherto unknown bHLH12-like-encoding nucleic acids useful in per-forming the methods of the invention.
