ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Abiotic Stress
Genome-wide identification and expression profiling of DnaJ gene family in Gossypium barbadense reveals candidate thermotolerance genes
Provisionally accepted
- Tarim University, Aral, China
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Heat stress is one of the primary abiotic stress factors affecting plant growth, seriously compromising crop quality and yield. The DnaJ gene family functions as a crucial component of molecular chaperones, playing a vital role in protein folding, unfolding, translocation, and degradation. In this study, we performed genome-wide identification and characterization of the DnaJ family in Gossypium barbadense, identifying 109 GbDnaJ genes, which were divided into five subfamilies based on the phylogeny analysis. Synteny analysis indicated that segmental duplication served as the primary driver for GbDnaJ family expansion, with the family underwent significant expansion and experiencing whole-genome duplication (WGD) events during the polyploidization process from diploid ancestors to allotetraploid cotton. Selection pressure analysis revealed that the majority of duplicated gene pairs within Gossypium barbadense, as well as orthologous genes between related cotton species, were subjected to strong purifying selection. These results suggest that the GbDnaJ gene family has predominantly maintained functional conservation through purifying selection following polyploidization, with limited functional divergence after gene duplication events. Cis-acting regulatory elements analysis revealed that the promoter regions of GbDnaJ genes are enriched with light-responsive, hormone-responsive and stress-responsive elements, and may be involved in cotton fiber development. Expression profiles demonstrated tissue-specific patterns for most GbDnaJ genes. Further investigation of 15 heat stress-responsive genes using transcriptome data revealed divergent expression trends across tissues, with several genes showing strong stress-induced expression. These molecular patterns were closely associated with physiological changes, including decreased photosynthetic rate and increased activities of catalase and peroxidase. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary and functional characteristics of the GbDnaJ gene family, offering theoretical insights and candidate gene resources for elucidating DnaJ-mediated thermotolerance mechanisms in Gossypium barbadense.
Keywords: DNAJ gene family, expression profiling, Genome-wide identification, Gossypium barbadense, Heat stress
Received: 19 Oct 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Han, Li, Li, Xu, Li, Wang, Liu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yanqin Wang
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