Coordination between mitochondria and nucleus is crucial for fertility determination in cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) plant. Using yeast one-hybrid screening, we identified a transcription factor ZmDREB1.7 that is highly expressed in sterile microspores at the large vacuole stage and activates CMS gene orf355 expression in mitochondria. Δpro, a weak allele of ZmDREB1.7 promoter due to the loss of key UPR motif, partially restores male fertility of CMS-S maize. ZmDREB1.7 expression increases rapidly in response to antimycin A treatment, but this response is attenuated in the present of Δpro allele. We further show that expression of orf355 in mitochondria activates mitochondrial retrograde signal, which in turn induces ZmDREB1.7 expression. These findings demonstrate a positive feedback transcriptional regulation between nuclear regulator and mitochondrial CMS gene in male sterility determination and provide insight into nucleus-mitochondria communication in plants.