C2H2 zinc finger protein (ZFP) genes have been shown to act as transcription factors and participate in numerous biological processes, including plant growth and development, as well as stress responses. In the present research, we performed an in silico genome-wide analysis of C2H2-ZFP genes in C. tinctorius through the available safflower genome database. Totally, 92 C. tinctorius candidate C2H2-ZFPs (CtC2H2-ZFPs) genes were identified. These candidate proteins were further investigated in terms of the presence of plant-specific conserved motif in C2H2-ZF domains and their organization, phylogeny relationships, physical map, subcellular localization, gene structure, motif/domain organization, and various physico-chemical properties. Our results showed that CtC2H2-ZFPs were classified into 11 different subsets based on the plant-specific conserved motif that majority of them belonged to 1i-Q and t1-Mx types. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, they were grouped in five clades that the most of the 1i-Q and t1-Mx type genes were organized each on a specific clade. All 92 genes were located on safflower chromosomes with a high density on the chr 06, 07, 08, 09 and 10. For all identified proteins, at least one motif was predicted. Motif 1 was the most conserved one among all proteins. The number of exons was varied between CtC2H2-ZFP genes and the majority of them contained less than 7 exons. All proteins showed to be localized in nucleus, though some of them shared different subcellular locations. Our results provide deeper insights into the classification of C2H2-ZFP genes and can serve as an essential tool for surveying their gene expression patterns in association with different stress conditions in this species.
