Abstract

Heat shock proteins are important molecular chaperones that are involved in plant growth and stress responses. However, members of the Hsp family have been poorly studied in cassava. In this study, 225 MeHsp genes were identified in the cassava genome, and their genetic structures exhibited relatively conserved features within each subfamily. The 225 MeHsp genes showed random chromosomal distribution, and at least 74 pairs of segmentally duplicated MeHsp genes. Eleven tandemly duplicated MeHsp genes were identified. Cis-element analysis revealed the importance of MeHsps in plant adaptations to the environment. The prediction of protein interactions suggested that MeHsp70-20 may play a critical regulatory role in the interactive network. Furthermore, the expression profiles of MeHsps in different tissues and cell subsets were analyzed using bulk transcriptomics and single-cell transcriptomic data. Several subfamily genes exhibited unique expression patterns in the transcriptome and were selected for detailed analysis of the single-cell transcriptome. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed the expression patterns of these genes under temperature stress, further supporting the prediction of cis-acting elements. This study provides valuable information for understanding the functional characteristics of MeHsp genes and the evolutionary relationships between MeHsps.