Genome-wide identification and analysis of the GUB_WAK_bind gene family in Gossypium hirsutum

Background Upland cotton is one of the main cultivated species of cotton, and salt stress is an important factor in its growth and development. Wall-associated receptor kinase galacturonan binding (GUB_WAK_bind) is an extracellular domain of wall-associated kinase (WAK), which can sense the environment and play a role in the response to plant stress. Methods and results In this study, the GUB_WAK_bind gene in Gossypium hirsutum was identified and analyzed by bioinformatics at the whole genome level, including its physicochemical properties, evolutionary development, gene structure, chromosome positioning, cis-acting elements in the promoter, etc., and the expression of the GUB_WAK_bind genes under salt stress were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). A total of 22 GUB_WAK_bind gene members were identified in Gossypium hirsutum and divided into three subgroups by evolutionary development and motif analysis, most of which contained motif 5, which is similar to the motif pattern of subgroup members. The number of exons in this gene family is between 1 and 4, the number of introns is between 0 and 3, and 22 gene members are distributed on 14 chromosomes of Gossypium hirsutum. Almost all gene members have adverse stress response elements in their promoter region. The expression analysis in response to salt stress showed that the selected six genes were induced by NaCl stress with significant expression differences (P < 0.05). Conclusions The results of this study have a certain reference value for understanding the evolution and function of GUB_WAK_bind genes and studying the salt tolerance genes of Gossypium hirsutum.