The invention relates to plants, especially transgenic plants, plant parts and plant cells overproducing a secretory phospholipase A2 protein (e.g. sPLA2-a or sPLA2-b) and having an enhanced resistance against a wide range of abiotic (e.g., against osmotic stress) and biotic stress (e.g., bacterial, or fungal infections) conditions as well as inducing early flowering. The invention also comprises nucleic acid sequences encoding a secretory phospholipase A2 or functional isoforms thereof and the use of such sequences for rendering plants resistant against abiotic and biotic stress conditions. The invention is useful for mitigating crop damages by a wide variety of pathogen infections and stress conditions and for accelerating flowering time.