Research Article
Open Access
Genome-wide Identification and Evolutionary Characterization of the Heat Shock Transcription Factor (HSF) Gene Family in Castanea Dentata and Their Functional Implications
1
Department of Biotechnology, University of Okara, Okara 56300, Pakistan
2
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, The University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
3
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
* Corresponding Author:
Hadia Hussain,
[email protected]
Volume 1, Issue 2
2026
Received: 18 February 2026
Accepted: 31 March 2026
Published: 07 June 2026
Article Information
Abstract
Heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) act as transcriptional regulators that mediate the defense responses against heat stress. Castanea dentata plays a major role in sustaining forest and landscape ecosystems and also exhibits medicinal properties. In this study, we identified 23 CadenHSFs genes from the genome of C. dentata. In silico approaches were employed to analyze gene structure, conserved domains, chromosomal locations, motif organization, comparative evolutionary analyses, synteny analyses, subcellular localization, and cis-regulatory element analysis. Cis-regulatory element analysis revealed that the promoters of CadenHSFs genes are associated with stress responses, light signaling, hormone pathways, and developmental processes. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted HSF proteins from C. dentata, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Vitis vinifera showed that the 23 CadenHSFs genes were classified into seven distinct subgroups and three main classes (A, B, and C). Analyses of conserved domains, motifs, and gene structure indicated that these proteins share conserved characteristics within each group while displaying distinct features between groups. Synteny analysis identified both duplication events (including tandem repeats and segmental duplications). In silico subcellular localization results demonstrated that most CadenHSFs proteins were predominately localized in the nucleus. Our findings provide a robust foundation for further functional characterization of CadenHSFs genes and the genetic improvement of C. dentata.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
heat shock transcription factor (HSF)
castanea dentata
genome-wide analysis
abiotic stress
hormone signaling
Data Availability Statement
Data will be made available on request.
Funding
This work was supported without any funding.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
AI Use Statement
The authors declare that no generative AI was used in the preparation of this manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
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Rehman, K., Noor, M., Mehar, I., Nasir, B., & Hussain, H. (2026). Genome-wide Identification and Evolutionary Characterization of the Heat Shock Transcription Factor (HSF) Gene Family in Castanea Dentata and Their Functional Implications. Plant Innovation Journal, 1(2), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.62762/PIJ.2026.449234
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TY - JOUR AU - Rehman, Kanza AU - Noor, Maryam AU - Mehar, Iqra AU - Nasir, Bukhtawer AU - Hussain, Hadia PY - 2026 DA - 2026/06/07 TI - Genome-wide Identification and Evolutionary Characterization of the Heat Shock Transcription Factor (HSF) Gene Family in Castanea Dentata and Their Functional Implications JO - Plant Innovation Journal T2 - Plant Innovation Journal JF - Plant Innovation Journal VL - 1 IS - 2 SP - 58 EP - 71 DO - 10.62762/PIJ.2026.449234 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/PIJ.2026.449234 KW - heat shock transcription factor (HSF) KW - castanea dentata KW - genome-wide analysis KW - abiotic stress KW - hormone signaling AB - Heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) act as transcriptional regulators that mediate the defense responses against heat stress. Castanea dentata plays a major role in sustaining forest and landscape ecosystems and also exhibits medicinal properties. In this study, we identified 23 CadenHSFs genes from the genome of C. dentata. In silico approaches were employed to analyze gene structure, conserved domains, chromosomal locations, motif organization, comparative evolutionary analyses, synteny analyses, subcellular localization, and cis-regulatory element analysis. Cis-regulatory element analysis revealed that the promoters of CadenHSFs genes are associated with stress responses, light signaling, hormone pathways, and developmental processes. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted HSF proteins from C. dentata, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Vitis vinifera showed that the 23 CadenHSFs genes were classified into seven distinct subgroups and three main classes (A, B, and C). Analyses of conserved domains, motifs, and gene structure indicated that these proteins share conserved characteristics within each group while displaying distinct features between groups. Synteny analysis identified both duplication events (including tandem repeats and segmental duplications). In silico subcellular localization results demonstrated that most CadenHSFs proteins were predominately localized in the nucleus. Our findings provide a robust foundation for further functional characterization of CadenHSFs genes and the genetic improvement of C. dentata. SN - 3142-7596 PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
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@article{Rehman2026Genomewide,
author = {Kanza Rehman and Maryam Noor and Iqra Mehar and Bukhtawer Nasir and Hadia Hussain},
title = {Genome-wide Identification and Evolutionary Characterization of the Heat Shock Transcription Factor (HSF) Gene Family in Castanea Dentata and Their Functional Implications},
journal = {Plant Innovation Journal},
year = {2026},
volume = {1},
number = {2},
pages = {58-71},
doi = {10.62762/PIJ.2026.449234},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/PIJ.2026.449234},
abstract = {Heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) act as transcriptional regulators that mediate the defense responses against heat stress. Castanea dentata plays a major role in sustaining forest and landscape ecosystems and also exhibits medicinal properties. In this study, we identified 23 CadenHSFs genes from the genome of C. dentata. In silico approaches were employed to analyze gene structure, conserved domains, chromosomal locations, motif organization, comparative evolutionary analyses, synteny analyses, subcellular localization, and cis-regulatory element analysis. Cis-regulatory element analysis revealed that the promoters of CadenHSFs genes are associated with stress responses, light signaling, hormone pathways, and developmental processes. Phylogenetic analysis of the predicted HSF proteins from C. dentata, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Vitis vinifera showed that the 23 CadenHSFs genes were classified into seven distinct subgroups and three main classes (A, B, and C). Analyses of conserved domains, motifs, and gene structure indicated that these proteins share conserved characteristics within each group while displaying distinct features between groups. Synteny analysis identified both duplication events (including tandem repeats and segmental duplications). In silico subcellular localization results demonstrated that most CadenHSFs proteins were predominately localized in the nucleus. Our findings provide a robust foundation for further functional characterization of CadenHSFs genes and the genetic improvement of C. dentata.},
keywords = {heat shock transcription factor (HSF), castanea dentata, genome-wide analysis, abiotic stress, hormone signaling},
issn = {3142-7596},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
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