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[Objective]EARLY FLOWERING 3(ELF3), an important component of the core circadian oscillator, has been identified to function greatly in regulating circadian and flowering, and stress responses of plants. Up to now, however, there has been no report on banana ELF3. Our present study is aimed to explore the functions of ELF in banana responses to stresses.[Method]Four ELF3 genes(MaELF3- 1-MaELF3-4)identified from banana(Musa acuminata)genome were cloned using reverse transcription PCR and subjected to a series of bioinformatic analysis. Their expression patterns under treatments of high and low temperature, banana wilt disease pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4(FocTR4), MeJA and ABA were analyzed using transcriptome data and quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR).[Result]The coding sequences of the four MaELF3s ranged from 2 058 bp to 2 301 bp, encoding proteins consisted of 685-766 amino acids. Except that MaELF3-4 had three exons, all the other three MaELF3s had four exons. Protein analysis revealed that all MaELF3s were nucleus-located unstable basic proteins; unlike the ELF3s from temperate plants, all ELF3s from banana and some other tropical plants did not contain the prion-like domain(PrD). Phylogenetic analysis results showed that MaELF3-2 and MaELF3-4 shared the closest relationship with Arabidopsis ELF3(At2g25930), while MaELF3-1 and MaELF3-3 was the closest to ELF3 from Ensete ventricosum and Musa balbisiana, respectively. The promoter regions of MaELF3s contained many light-, phytohormone(such as MeJA and ABA)- and stress(such as drought and low temperature)-responsive elements. Gene expression analysis revealed that, the expressions of all the four MaELF3s in the leaves were greatly influenced by JA and ABA treatments, and their expressions in the banana roots was significantly downregulated by FocTR4. Moreover, the expressions of all MaELF3s except MaELF3-4 were downregulated by both high and low temperature treatments.[Conclusion]The results obtained in this study indicate that MaELF3s participate in the banana responses to different stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]