The BAHD acyltransferase STBR1 confers both saline-alkali tolerance and blast resistance by stabilizing the non-canonical catalase CATA to promote H2O2 scavenging in rice

scavenging and mitigating oxidative damage. We further identified a natural elite haplotype, STBR1-T, which harbors a promoter mutation that weakens binding by the transcriptional repressor NAC2-as confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation-qPCR-resulting in elevated STBR1 expression and enhanced stress resilience in rice. Together, our findings define the NAC2-STBR1-CATA regulatory module as a central hub that coordinates oxidative homeostasis under combined abiotic and biotic stresses. The STBR1-T allele represents a valuable genetic resource for breeding high-yielding rice cultivars with robust, broad-spectrum stress resistance.