This invention relates generally to nucleic acid sequences encoding proteins that are associated with abiotic stress responses and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. This invention further relates to transformed plant cells with altered metabolic activity compared to a corresponding non transformed wild type plant cell, wherein the metabolic activity is altered by transformation with a Stress-Related Protein (SRP) coding nucleic acid and results in increased tolerance and/or resistance to an environmental stress as compared to a corresponding non-transformed wild type plant cell.