The present invention provides isolated HaHB11 polypeptides and nucleic acids encoding the same. Also provided are methods of introducing a nucleic acid encoding HaHB11 polypeptides into a plant cell, plant part or plant, e.g., to increase tolerance to abiotic stress, to delay development and/or prolong the life span of a plant, and/or to increase yield from the plant. The invention also provides nucleic acids comprising HaHB11 promoter sequences and methods for expressing a nucleotide sequence of interest operab.lv associated vvith the HaHB11 promoters of the invention in a plant cell, plant part, or plant. Also provided are transformed plants, plant tissues, plant cells and plant seed comprising the nucleic acids, expression cassettes and vectors of the invention.
