Abstract: The present invention relates to stress-regulated polypeptides, nucleotide sequences encoding the same and regulatory elements and their use in creating or enhancing stress tolerance in plants. Nucleic acid constructs comprising a stress-responsive sequence involved in the production of raffinose operably linked to a promoter, or other nucleotide sequence operably linked to a stress specific regulatory region are disclosed as well as vectors, plant cells, plants, and transformed seeds containing such constructs are provided. Methods for the use of such constructs in repressing or inducing expression of a stress-control sequences in a plant are also provided. In addition, methods are provided for conferring or improving stress tolerance in plants by repression or induction of stress-regulatory sequences or by spatially and temporally directing expression to periods of stress.