Genome-Wide Characterisation of the AP2/ERF Family in Salvia miltiorrhiza Identifies Hormone-Responsive Candidates Associated with Phenolic Acid Accumulation

APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor (AP2/ERF) transcription factors integrate phytohormone signalling with developmental programmes and specialised metabolism, yet their family-wide features and potential contributions to phenolic-acid biosynthesis remain to be systematically clarified in <i>Salvia miltiorrhiza</i>. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive genome-wide analysis and identified 169 SmAP2/ERF genes, which were classified into five subfamilies (AP2, ERF, DREB, RAV and Soloist). SmAP2/ERFs were unevenly distributed across chromosomes and expanded predominantly through tandem and segmental duplication, and Ka/Ks analysis indicated that tandem-duplicated pairs have mainly undergone purifying selection. Promoter analysis revealed abundant cis-acting elements related to light, phytohormones and stress responses, indicating extensive regulatory potential. Comparative phylogenetic analysis with <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> prioritised four candidates (<i>SmAP2/ERF88</i>, <i>SmAP2/ERF110</i>, <i>SmAP2/ERF121</i> and <i>SmAP2/ERF122</i>) closely associated with specialised-metabolism regulators. These genes exhibited distinct tissue-preferential expression patterns and divergent hormone responsiveness: <i>SmAP2/ERF88/110</i> were broadly inducible, whereas <i>SmAP2/ERF121/122</i> responded mainly to abscisic acid and were repressed by brassinosteroids. Confocal imaging of GFP fusions confirmed nuclear localisation of all four proteins. Phytohormone treatments differentially regulated key phenolic-acid pathway genes (PAL, C4H, 4CL, TAT, HPPR, RAS and CYP98A14) and altered rosmarinic acid and salvianolic acid B accumulation. These results broaden the genome-wide understanding of the SmAP2/ERF family in <i>Salvia miltiorrhiza</i>. Hormone-responsive SmAP2/ERFs show expression patterns associated with hormone-dependent transcriptional changes in phenolic-acid pathway genes and with RA and SAB accumulation, providing candidates for future functional validation and metabolic engineering.