Objectives: To understand the exact functions of plant non-specific lipid transfer proteins(nsLTPs)clearly in cotton.NsLTPs are a group of abundantly expressed small basic proteins,which possesses the conserved eight cysteine residue motif(C-Xn-C-Xn-CCXn-CXC-Xn-C-Xn-C)and the N-terminal signal peptide.They have been reported to be involved in many useful physiological processes,such as involving in plant defense activity against bacterial and fungal pathogens,associating with abiotic stress resistance,mediating phospholipid transfer and signal transduction.Methods: In this study,we carried out a genome-wide overview of the Gossypium raimondii nsLtp(GrnsLTP)gene family,laying a foundation for further functional analysis.Results: A total of 40 GrnsLtp genes were identified through an overall analysis of the whole genome of G.rai,which were classified into eight types(Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅳ,Ⅴ,Ⅶ,Ⅷ,Ⅸ and nsLTPY)based on the sequence similarities.Compared with Arabidopsis nsLTPs,Types Ⅲ and Ⅵ were not detected and a new type,Ⅶ nsLtps,was identified in G.rai.Genomic localization of the GrnsLtp genes showed that they were distributed across twelve chromosomes,especially abundant in D06,D08 and D11,sharing the duplicated chromosomal segments.It was also found that only 28 GrnsLtps had introns and the eight Cys residues were highly conserved in all of the 40 GrnsLtps via conducting a sequence analysis.To further study the phylogenetic organization of the nsLTP gene families,we constructed a phylogenetic tree of arabidopsis and cotton nsLTPs.The same type nsLTPs were grouped in a clade in general,indicating that the two species have a relatively conservative relationship in evolutionary divergence.Conclusions: Our analysis supplies a detailed depiction and insight on cotton nsLtp gene family to support further functional and evolutionary research on nsLtp genes among plants.