12995 10.30848/PJB2026-5(5) <p> Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of <em>early flowering</em> (<em>ELF</em>) gene family in <em>Nicotiana tabacum</em></p> Yudong Chen, Yanju Shuai, Wenyuan Wang, Lele Deng, Haitao Hang, Zhong Wang, Wanli Zeng, Kangkang Song and Qian Gao <p> <em>Early Flowering</em> (<em>ELF</em>) genes are crucial in plant photoperiod pathways and are negative regulation genes of plant flowering. At present, the identification of ELFs in <em>Nicotiana tabacum </em>(<em>NtELF</em>s) has not been systematically carried out. Using the Arabidopsis <em>ELF</em> family genes as a reference, 28 <em>NtELF</em> family members were identified, which were divided into four subfamilies. The ELF4 subfamily exhibited the highest membership counts of 13 members and owned a unique motif 1; with the exception of <em>NtELF4-9</em>. All members of the ELF4 subfamily had only one CDS. The results of chromosome localization of the <em>ELF</em> family members showed that there were three sets of tandem repeat events in the <em>NtELF</em>s. Promoters of<em> NtELF</em>s contained four <em>cis</em>-acting element types, and the light response elements were significant abundance. The NtELF family proteins within the same subfamily exposed comparable 3D structures and demonstrated analogous gene expression patterns. GO enrichment analysis of <em>NtELF</em>s showed that terms related to stimulus, photoperiodism, and reproduction were significantly enriched. This study systematically identifies NtELF family members for the first time, thereby paves the way for further investigations into their biological functions and provides a valuable background information for gene editing breeding</p> Published 2026 58 5 1096 1103