A series of differentially expressed transcription factors were selected from the expression profiles of somatic embryos at different stages of cotton regeneration.The expression of GhSEDEG38 (somatic embryogenesis differentially expression gene 38) was significantly upregulated by salt stress by analyzing the expression of these transcription factors under different stress treatments with RT-PCR and qRT-PCR.Sequence analyses revealed that GhSEDEG38 encodes a bZIPtype transcription factor that is homologous to the ArabidopsisbZIP53 gene.In order to further verify the function of the gene,RNAi interference vectors of this gene were constructed and transformed into cotton,and transgenic cotton lines with significantly reduced expression levels were obtained through molecular detection.We compared the growth index and physical parameters between RNAi and control lines under salt treatments.The results showed that the down regulated expression of GhSEDEG38 reduced the resistance of cotton to salt stress during seed germination and early seedling stage.The MDA content and reactive oxygen species in transgenic plants was significantly higher than those in the control line,while the soluble sugar content was significantly lower than that in the control line.It is indicated thatGhSEDEG38 might be involved in the response to salt stress in cotton.