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∼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 IGF2BP1 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. 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.

As a member of the insulin-like growth factor mRNA binding proteins (IGFBPs) family, IGF2BP3 plays important role in skeletal muscle development by regulating IGF2, which has been considered a key gene related to growth and reproductive traits in many agricultural animal species. However, study on the goose IGF2BP3 gene is still scarce. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence of goose IGF2BP3 gene was cloned and characterized. The goose IGF2BP3 cDNA is 1825 bp in length, containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 1755 bp that encodes a protein of 584 amino acids, which consists of two RNA-recognition motifs (RRMs) and four K-homologous (KH) domains. RT-qPCR analysis indicates that the IGF2BP3 mRNA expression level is the highest in ovary tissue, followed in hypothalamus, spleen, leg muscle and liver, and low level in breast muscle and muscular stomach of the adult Zhedong White goose. Meanwhile, 25 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 5 insertions/deletions (InDels) variants were identified in about 10,764 bp of goose IGF2BP3 genomic DNA sequence. These results serve as a foundation for further investigations of the function of IGF2BP3 gene in geese.