The present invention pertains to transgenic plants comprising nucleic acid molecules comprising nucleotide sequences that encode RAR1 proteins involved in disease resistance, and the RAR1 polypeptides. The invention particularly relates to methods of altering the expressing nucleic acid molecules encoding RAR1 proteins in transgenic plants to alter the level disease resistance, and to transgenic plants, progeny and seed therefrom, having altered enhanced disease resistance. The invention further relates to methods of enhancing expression of R resistance genes, disease resistance signal transduction genes, genes involved in mediating disease resistance or involved in the synthesis of molecules mediating disease resistance. The invention also relates to methods of regulating the expression of other coding sequences of interest by increasing the expression of the nucleic acid molecules of the invention.