| Summary: | As plant specific transcription factors, NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) domain is involved in the plant development and stress responses. Due to the vitality of NAC gene family, BLASTp was performed to identify NAC genes in almond (<i>Prunus dulcis</i>). Further, phylogenetic and syntenic analyses were performed to determine the homology and evolutionary relationship. Gene duplication, gene structure, motif, subcellular localization, and <i>cis</i>-regulatory analyses were performed to assess the function of <i>PdNAC</i>. Whereas RNA-seq analysis was performed to determine the differential expression of <i>PdNAC</i> in fruits at various developmental stages. We identified 106 NAC genes in <i>P. dulcis</i> genome and were renamed according to their chromosomal distribution. Phylogenetic analysis in both <i>P. dulcis</i> and <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> revealed the presence of 14 subfamilies. Motif and gene structure followed a pattern according to the <i>PdNAC</i> position in phylogenetic subfamilies. Majority of NAC are localized in the nucleus and have ABA-responsive elements in the upstream region of <i>PdNAC</i>. Differential gene expression analyses revealed one and six <i>PdNAC</i> that were up and down-regulated, respectively, at all development stages. This study provides insights into the structure and function of <i>PdNAC</i> along with their role in the fruit development to enhance an understanding of NAC in <i>P. dulcis</i>.
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