Goat : mRNA expression profiles of different alternative spliced variants and associations analyses with growth traits.

CKLF like MARVEL transmembrane domain containing 2 () plays crucial roles in spermiogenesis, skeletogenous, growth, and development through PI3K/Akt and other pathways. The purpose of this study was to explore the expression profile and variation of different spliced gene in Shaanbei white cashmere goats, as well as to find the relationships between a promoter region 14 bp genetic variant and growth traits in 1366 Shaanbei white cashmere goats. In this study, we identified alternative splicing and detected the effects of the spliced variants on mRNA expression levels in tissues. Meanwhile, an unreported spliced variant of in goat was identified using in CDS cloning and RT-PCR, namely, . Compared with the normal transcript (), the novel variant had the higher expression level in muscle and liver tissues, indicating that it plays an effective role in growth traits. Furthermore, a 14 bp deletion was detected within promoter region, and the different genotypes were significantly associated with growth traits (e.g., body length, circumference of cannon bone) in the large group of 1366 individuals in Shaanbei white cashmere goats. We found that the body length of the individuals with II ( = 571) genotype had better phenotypes than those with DD ( = 118) and ID ( = 650) genotypes. These results have direct guiding significance for goat breeding in the future and provide a new idea for studying the characteristics and functions of gene in goats.