Abstract
A matrix spectral problem is researched with an arbitrary parameter. Through zero curvature equations, two hierarchies are constructed of isospectral and nonisospectral generalized derivative nonlinear schrodinger equations. The resulting hierarchies include the Kaup-Newell equation, the Chen-Lee-Liu equation, the Gerdjikov-Ivanov equation, the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation, the Sharma-Tasso-Olever equation and a new equation as special reductions. The integro-differential operator related to the isospectral and nonisospectral hierarchies is shown to be not only a hereditary but also a strong symmetry of the whole isospectral hierarchy. For the isospectral hierarchy, the corresponding tau-symmetries are generated from the nonisospectral hierarchy and form an infinite-dimensional symmetry algebra with the K-symmetries.