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A Conserved DT2-bZIP66-NF-YC4 Regulatory Module Confers Drought Tolerance in Rice and Arabidopsis.

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Title: A Conserved DT2-bZIP66-NF-YC4 Regulatory Module Confers Drought Tolerance in Rice and Arabidopsis.
Authors: Shen J; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.; College of Agronomy, Bio-breeding Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China., Li Y; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Zhang L; College of Agronomy, Bio-breeding Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China., Ma X; Shanghai Agrobiological Gene Center, Shanghai, China., Peng C; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Yuan C; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Wu Y; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Zhao K; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Zhao S; College of Agronomy, Bio-breeding Laboratory of Anhui Province, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China., Guo J; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Li R; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Yan Z; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Ren S; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Han Y; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Lin X; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Li X; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China., Li M; State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, China., Yang P; State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Hubei University, Wuhan, China., Song S; State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Breeding, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Resources, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Source: Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) [Adv Sci (Weinh)] 2026 Aug; Vol. 13 (48), pp. e76034. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jun 09.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Language: English
Journal Info: Publisher: WILEY-VCH Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 101664569 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2198-3844 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 21983844 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Adv Sci (Weinh) Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Original Publication: Weinheim : WILEY-VCH, [2014]-
MeSH Terms: Oryza*/genetics , Oryza*/physiology , Oryza*/metabolism , Drought Resistance*/genetics , Arabidopsis*/genetics , Arabidopsis*/physiology , Arabidopsis*/metabolism , Plant Proteins*/genetics , Plant Proteins*/metabolism , Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors*/genetics , Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors*/metabolism, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant/genetics ; Plants, Genetically Modified/genetics ; Transcription Factors/genetics ; Transcription Factors/metabolism ; Stress, Physiological/genetics ; Droughts
Abstract: Drought stress severely restricts plant growth and crop productivity. Although numerous transcription factors have been linked to drought responses, the regulatory networks underlying drought tolerance in rice remain incompletely understood. Here, through a CRISPR/Cas9-based genetic screen of a rice mutant population, we identified a mutant with decreased drought tolerance, osdt2. OsDT2 encodes a CCCH-type zinc-finger protein and its overexpression confers strong drought resistance. We demonstrate that OsDT2 physically interacts with the bZIP transcription factor OsbZIP66, and they synergistically activate drought-responsive genes, such as LATE EMBRYOGENESIS ABUNDANT 3 (OsLEA3), to enhance drought tolerance. Furthermore, the nuclear factor Y subunit C4 (OsNF-YC4) interacts with both OsDT2 and OsbZIP66, coordinating their recruitment to the promoter of OsLEA3. Remarkably, the OsDT2 function is conserved across cereals, including wheat and maize, and the tripartite DT2-bZIP66-NF-YC4 module is functionally conserved in mediating drought responses in both rice and Arabidopsis. Collectively, our study reveals a novel, evolutionarily conserved transcriptional regulatory module that fine-tunes drought-responsive gene expression and provides potential targets for engineering drought-resilient crops.
(© 2026 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)
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Grant Information: 32441049 National Natural Science Foundation of China; 32322009 National Natural Science Foundation of China; LRG25C130001 Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province; 2025SWYZ0100 Bio-breeding Laboratory of Anhui Province; Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Innovation and Utilization Open Fund
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: DT2‐bZIP66‐NF‐YC4; OsDT2; drought tolerance; rice and Arabidopsis
Substance Nomenclature: 0 (Plant Proteins)
0 (Transcription Factors)
0 (Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors)
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20260609 Date Completed: 20260828 Latest Revision: 20260828
Update Code: 20260828
PubMed Central ID: PMC13337034
DOI: 10.1002/advs.76034
PMID: 42261789
Database: MEDLINE
Description
ISSN:2198-3844
DOI:10.1002/advs.76034