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

• (I) transforming a plant cell with a first nucleotide sequence that is a regulatory region operably linked to at least one second isolated nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of:
• (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding SEQ ID NO:
• 146;
• (b) the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO:
• 145;
• and
• (c) a nucleotide sequence hybridizing to the full length complementary sequence of the nucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
• 145 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 washings 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 washings 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;
• wherein said hybridizing nucleotide sequence encodes a calcium binding protein having a PsbP domain;
• (II) expressing said second isolated nucleic acid;
• (III) generating from said plant cell a transformed plant in which said at least one second isolated nucleic acid is overexpressed;
• and
• (IV) selecting from a plurality of said transformed plants a plant exhibiting increased tolerance to salinity as compared to a control plant.