Nucleotide sequences and corresponding polypeptides conferring modulated growth rate and biomass in plants grown in saline conditions

A method of increasing tolerance to salinity in a plant, said method comprising providing a plurality of plants comprising a promoter operably linked to a nucleic acid, wherein the promoter and the nucleic acid are heterologous to each other and whereby the nucleic acid is expressed, and said nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:

• (a) a nucleotide sequence that encodes a protein comprising an amino acid sequence that is at least 85% identical to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:172;
• (b) a nucleotide sequence that encodes a protein that comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 172;
• (c) a nucleotide sequence comprising the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:171;
• or
• a nucleotide sequence able to hybridize to the full length complementary sequence of the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:171 under high stringency conditions which comprise (i) hybridization at 42° C. in 50% formamide, 6×SSC or 6×SSPE, 0.05% Blotto or 5×Denhardt's Reagent, 100 μg/ml denatured salmon sperm DNA, 0.05% SDS and washing at 65° C. first in 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS for at least 30 min to one hour and subsequently in 0.1×SSC, 0.5% SDS for at least 30 min to one hour;
• or (ii) hybridization at 65° C. in 6×SSC or 6×SSPE, 0.05% Blotto or 5×Denhardt's Reagent, 100 μg/ml denatured salmon sperm DNA, 0.05% SDS and washing at 65° C. first in 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS for at least 30 min to one hour, and subsequently in 0.1×SSC, 0.5% SDS for at least 30 min to one hour;
• and
• selecting from the plurality of plants a plant exhibiting increased tolerance to salinity as compared to a control plant.