A transgenic plant transformed by a Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase-Like Stress-Related Polypeptide (SHSRP) coding nucleic acid, wherein expression of the nucleic acid sequence in the plant results in the plants increased root growth and/or increased tolerance to environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant. Also provided are agricultural products, including seeds, produced by the transgenic plants. Also provided are isolated SHSRPs, and isolated nucleic acids encoding SHSRPs, and vectors and host cells containing the latter.
