A transgenic plant transformed by a protein kinase stress-related protein (PKSRP) 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 PKSRP, and isolated nucleic acid coding PKSRP, and vectors and host cells containing the latter. Further provided are methods of producing transgenic plants expressing PKSRP, and methods of identifying novel PKSRP and methods of modifying the expression of PKSRP in plants.