Phylogenetic annotation of Caenorhabditis elegans heat shock protein 70 genes

Annotation of the 70 kDa heat shock proteins (Hsp70s) has been chaotic especially in invertebrates. In this study, we validated an emerging nomenclature of Hsp70s, which can be potentially applied to all metazoan Hsp70s, by conducting a genome-wide annotation of Caenorhabditis elegans Hsp70s. Using the phylogenetic annotation, the seven canonical C. elegans Hsp70s were successfully classified into four known lineages, cytosolic A, cytosolic B, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria. Motifs specific to each lineage were all conserved in the C. elegans Hsp70s. From these results, we propose new aliases of C. elegans Hsp70s that should help future annotation of this important molecular chaperone.