Discloses a transgenic plant comprising an ω-amidase transgene, wherein the ω-amidase transgene encodes a polypeptide having at least 75% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 3 and ω-amidase catalytic activity, and the ω-amidase transgene is operably linked to a heterologous plant promoter, wherein the sequence is as defined in the complete specification. Also disclose are methods for generating such a plant that has increased growth characteristics or having increased leaf-to-root ratio.
