Method of increasing protein content in a eukaryotic cell comprising an NF-YC4 gene comprising modifying the transcriptional repressor binding site; method of producing a plant with increased protein content comprising crossing and selecting for increased protein content; method of increasing resistance to a pathogen or a pest in a plant comprising an NF-YC4 gene comprising modifying the transcriptional repressor binding site, alone or in further combination with expressing QQS in the plant; method for producing a plant with increased resistance to a pathogen or a pest comprising crossing and selecting for increased resistance to the pathogen or the pest; a cell, collection of cells, tissue, organ, or organism in which the NF-YC4 gene comprises a promoter comprising a transcriptional repressor binding site that has been modified so that the transcriptional repressor cannot prevent transcription of the NF-YC4; hybrid plants; and seeds.