Various transcription factors are involved in the response to environmental stresses in plants. In this study, we characterized AtERF71/HRE2, a member of the Arabidopsis AP2/ERF family, as an important regulator of the osmotic and hypoxic stress responses in plants. Transcript level of AtERF71/HRE2 was highly increased by anoxia, NaCl, mannitol, ABA, and MV treatments. aterf71/hre2 loss-of-function mutants displayed higher sensitivity to osmotic stress such as high salt and mannitol, accumulating higher levels of ROS under high salt treatment. In contrast, AtERF71/HRE2-overexpressing transgenic plants showed tolerance to salt and mannitol as well as flooding and MV stresses, exhibiting lower levels of ROS under high salt treatment. AtERF71/HRE2 protein was localized in the nucleus, and the C-terminal region of AtERF71/HRE2 was required for transcription activation activity. Taken together, our results suggest that AtERF71/HRE2 might function as a transcription factor involved in the response to osmotic stress as well as hypoxia. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.