A transgenic plant transformed by a casein kinase Stress-Related Polypeptide (CKSRP) coding nucleic acid, wherein expression of the nucleic acid sequence in the plant results in 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 CKSRPs, and isolated nucleic acid coding CKSRPs, and vectors and host cells containing the latter.