InDels within caprine IGF 2 BP 1 intron 2 and the 3′‐untranslated regions are associated with goat growth traits

Summary Insulin‐like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein 1 ( IGF 2 BP 1) is involved in the Hedgehog pathway and has been shown to regulate the RNA stability of several growth‐related target genes. It is located in a quantitative trait locus showing a strong association with traits related to body size in ducks. Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 ( FGFR 1) also participates in Hedgehog signaling pathways and has been reported to be associated with organic growth and development. FGFR 1 ‐knockout mice have been shown to have severe postnatal growth defects, including an approximately 50% reduction in body weight and bone mass. Meanwhile, nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay factor ( SMG 6) can maintain genomic stability, which is associated with organic growth and development. Therefore, we hypothesized that IGF 2 BP 1 , FGFR 1 and SMG 6 genes may play important roles in the growth traits of goats. In this study, the existence of two insertion/deletion (InDel) variants within IGF 2 BP 1 , one InDel within FGFR 1 and two InDels within SMG 6 was verified and their correlation with growth traits was analyzed in 2429 female Shaanbei white cashmere goats. Results showed both the 15 bp InDel in intron 2 and the 5 bp InDel in the 3′ regulatory region within IGF 2 BP 1 were significantly associated with growth traits ( P  <   0.05) and goats with the combinatorial homozygous insertion genotypes of these two loci had the highest body weight ( P  =   0.046). The other InDels within FGFR 1 and SMG 6 were not obviously associated with growth traits ( P  >   0.05). Therefore, the two InDels in IGF 2 BP 1 were vital mutations affecting goat growth traits.