Abstract
Banana (Musa acuminata, AAA group) is a representative climacteric fruit with essential nutrients and pleasant flavors. Control of its ripening determines both the fruit quality and the shelf life. NAC (NAM, ATAF, CUC2) proteins, as one of the largest superfamilies of transcription factors, play crucial roles in various functions, especially developmental processes. Thus, it is important to conduct a comprehensive identification and characterization of the NAC transcription factor family at the genomic level in M. acuminata. In this article, a total of 181 banana NAC genes were identified. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that NAC genes in M. acuminata, Arabidopsis, and rice were clustered into 18 groups (S1-S18), and MCScanX analysis disclosed that the evolution of MaNAC genes was promoted by segmental duplication events. Expression patterns of NAC genes during banana fruit ripening induced by ethylene were investigated using RNA-Seq data, and 10 MaNAC genes were identified as related to fruit ripening. A subcellular localization assay of selected MaNACs revealed that they were all localized to the nucleus. These results lay a good foundation for the investigation of NAC genes in banana toward the biological functions and evolution.