NAC proteins, as one of the largest plant-specific transcription factors, play key roles in plant growth, development process, and various abiotic/biotic stresses. In this study, 90 NAC transcription factors (TFs) were identified in the eggplant genome, among them, 80 NAC genes from eggplant (SmNAC) were anchored unevenly in 12 chromosomes, but 10 SmNAC genes were mapped on unanchored scaffolds. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that only fifty-nine SmNAC genes were divided into 14 different subfamilies. Gene structure analysis revealed that the number of exons ranged from 1 to 16. Motif analysis revealed that the identified SmNAC transcription factors included the conserved NAC domain and motif2 was the conserved motif. In aspects of gene duplication analysis, five pairs of tandem replications and three pairs of fragment replications were identified in eggplant genome. Subsequently, 49 SmNAC genes were collinear with NAC genes from Arabidopsis or tomato, moreover, seven SmNAC genes were collinear with NAC genes in other two species. In addition, expression patterns of SmNAC genes were analyzed in vegetative and reproductive organs, at different developmental stages. Nine genes were not expressed in all of the examined developmental stages, 36 SmNAC genes were ubiquitously expressed in all eggplant organs/tissues, but differentially expressed in different tissues, and other 45 SmNAC genes detected in some tissues declared their involvement in the growth and development of certain tissues. Following further qRT-PCR analysis of SmNAC19, SmNAC31 and SmNAC75, belonging to ATAF subfamily, exhibited a large diversity in expression patterns, indicating their involvement in the regulation of different abiotic stresses. This study would help to further understand and enrich the physiological function of the SmNAC gene family in eggplant, and could provide high-quality genetic resources for eggplant genetics and breeding.

NAC 蛋白作为最大的植物特异性转录因子之一，在植物生长、发育过程和各种非生物/生物胁迫中发挥关键作用。本研究在茄子基因组中鉴定出90个NAC转录因子（TFs），其中80个来自茄子的NAC基因（SmNAC）不均匀锚定在12条染色体上，10个SmNAC基因定位在非锚定支架上。系统发育分析表明，只有 59 个SmNAC基因被分为14个不同的亚家族。基因结构分析表明，外显子的数量在1到16之间。Motif分析表明，鉴定出的SmNAC转录因子包括保守的NAC结构域，而motif2是保守的基序。在基因重复分析方面，在茄子基因组中鉴定出5对串联复制和3对片段复制。随后，49个SmNAC基因与来自拟南芥或番茄的NAC基因共线，另外7个SmNAC基因与其他两个物种的NAC基因共线。此外，SmNAC 的表达模式在不同发育阶段的营养和生殖器官中对基因进行了分析。9个基因在所有检查的发育阶段均未表达，36个SmNAC基因在茄子所有器官/组织中普遍表达，但在不同组织中表达差异，在部分组织中检测到的其他45个SmNAC基因表明它们参与了生长发育某些组织。在对SmNAC19进行进一步的 qRT-PCR 分析后，属于 ATAF 亚科的SmNAC31和SmNAC75在表达模式上表现出很大的多样性，表明它们参与了不同非生物胁迫的调节。本研究将有助于进一步了解和丰富人体的生理功能。茄子中的SmNAC基因家族，可为茄子遗传育种提供优质遗传资源。