Novel IGF2BP1 Splice Variants, Expression and Their Association with Growth Traits in Goose

1. The gene IGF2BP1 has been reported as being related to the body size and body weight in ducks, goats and chickens. However, this potential growth-related gene has not yet been reported in geese. 2. The goose IGF2BP1 cDNA (IGF2BP1-X1) is 2,925 bp in length, containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,731 bp that encodes a protein of 576 amino acids. Six IGF2BP1 transcripts (IGF2BP1-X2 similar to IGF2BP1-X7) were identified due to the alternative splicing of different exons within the IGF2BP1-X1 transcript. 3. RT-qPCR analysis indicated that the goose IGF28P1 mRNA was differentially expressed in the examined tissues of female embryos (28 d of development), adult (70 d of age) and laying (270 d of age) Zhedong White geese. 4. 4. In total, 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and three insertion/deletion (InDel) variants were detected in several introns and 3'-untranslated regions of the goose IGF2BP1 gene. The 17-bp InDel within IGF2BP1 intron 14 was significantly associated with body weight at six weeks old (BW6, P < 0.05), and extremely significantly associated with the BW8 and BW10 (P < 0.01) of Zhedong White geese.