Abstract: Means are provided of increasing the growth potential and abiotic stress resistance in plants, characterized by expression of polynucleotides stably integrated into a plant genome or stably incorporated in the plant. Further provided are isolated nucleic acids and their stable inclusion in transgenic plants. The transgenic plants have shown desirable phenotypic characteristics when compared to control plants, for example, improved drought-resistance. Also taught are plants having increased growth potential due to improved abiotic stress resistance.