The present invention concerns a method for altering characteristics of a plant. The invention describes the identification of genes that are upregulated or downregulated in transgenic plants overexpressing E2Fa/DPa and the use of such sequences to alter plant characteristics. A preferred way for altering characteristics of a plant comprises modifying expression of one or more nucleic acid sequences and or modifying level and/or activity of one or more proteins, which nucleic acids and/or proteins are essentially similar to any one or more of SEQ ID NO 1 to 2755. Some of the genes identified in the present invention have an E2Fa target consensus sequence in their 5' upstream region. The identified genes play a role in a variety of biological processes, such as DNA replication, cell wall biosynthesis, nitrogen and/or carbon metabolism, transcription factors etc.