The Sasa-Satsuma equation, a higher-order nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation, is an important integrable equation, which displays the propagation of femtosecond pulses in optical fibers. In this paper, we investigate a generalized Sasa-Satsuma(gSS) equation. The Darboux transformation(DT) for the focusing and defocusing gSS equation is constructed. By using the DT, various of soliton solutions for the generalized Sasa-Satsuma equation are derived, including hump-type, breather-type and periodic soliton. Dynamics properties and asymptotic behavior of these soliton solutions are analyzed. Infinite number conservation laws and conserved quantities for the gSS equation are obtained.