We isolated wound-inducible genes using suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method and were able to obtain to clone w123 gene encoding dnaJ like protein. The full-length cDNA of w123 is 689 bp with an open reading frame (ORF) consisting of 163 amino acid (aa). Genomic southern blot confirmed that soybean genome has two copies of w123 gene. Northern blot analysis was also carried out for the gene expression during heat, NaCl, drought, wounding stresses. The expression of w123 gene specifically induced by heat, NaCl, wounding and drought stress. Using GFP fusion vector, w123-smGFP was targeted both to nucleus. For the functional analysis of w123, His-tagged w123 recombinant protein was heterologously expressed in E. coli. The w123 recombinant cells showed enhanced heat tolerance compared to that of vector control cells. We suggest that dnaJ-like w123 protein function as molecular chaperone in the nucleus of the plant cell during various stresses.