<p> Supplement</p><p>Supplementary table 1 Descriptive statistics of the recorded growth traits for three goat breeds</p><p>Breeds (n) traits Mean SE Min Max BE (81) BH (cm) 66.41 0.63 57.00 88.00 BL (cm) 79.59 1.21 58.00 150.00 CaC (cm) 10.48 0.16 6.50 14.00 ChC (cm) 85.54 1.28 50.00 109.00 BW (kg) 55.31 1.97 57.82 125.35 XH (213) BH (cm) 61.69 0.51 42.00 76.00 BL (cm) 75.11 1.10 44.00 146.00 CaC (cm) 8.99 0.09 6.50 13.00 ChC (cm) 75.42 0.86 49.00 99.00 BW (kg) 42.09 1.30 50.19 119.45 HM (136) BH (cm) 54.19 0.41 45.00 66.00 BL (cm) 99.17 1.17 59.00 129.00 CaC (cm) 7.53 0.08 6.00 10.00 ChC (cm) 66.99 0.60 52.00 93.00 BW (kg) 41.91 1.03 34.77 95.30 XH = Xuhuai goat; BE = Boer goat; HM = Haimen goat; BH = Body height; BL = Body length; CaC = Cannon circumference; ChC = Chest circumference; BW = Body weight; N = Number of observations; Mean = Means of traits; SE = Standard error; Min and Max = Minimum and maximum values. Supplementary table 2 The characteristics of the primers in present study</p><p>Primers Primer sequences Length of products Annealing Position temperatures (°C) G1 5' CAGTTGCCAAGAATGAG 3' 452 bp 52 Exon1 5' CTCTTTAAGTGCACATGC 3' G2 5' TGAAGACAGTGTGGCGAT 3' 350 bp 57 Exon2 5' TGAAGACAGTGTGGCGAT 3' G3 5' TTCTTTCACAGACAGCCTCT 3' 340 bp 56 Exon3 5' TACTCTTTACCACGTCCCAT 3' G4 5' TCCAACTGGTAACCGTGCT 3' 303 bp 54 Exon4 5' CCGCCTCCTTCTCTGCTCT 3' G5 5' GCTTCTTATCCTCCAGTTC 3' 429 bp 57 Exon5 5' TCTCAGGTCAGTCCCAGT 3' G6 5' GGTTTTCCCTCTATTTCC 3' 294 bp 55 Exon6 5' GCTTTCCTCTGTGGTTCC 3' G7 5' TTTTGTCTCTGTCCCTGCC 3' 297 bp 58 Exon7 5' GTGTTTGCTTCTGAGCTGG 3' G8 5' GTCCCCCTCTATCTCCTCGC 3' 310 bp 55 Exon8 5' GTCATAAAGCCCCCGCCA 3' G9 5' CGTGGAGCCTTTAGGACTT 3' 356 bp 59 Exon9 5' ACGGTTCTGGTTCTTGGAG 3' G10 5' ACTTTTGTTCCTTGGTTTTGA 3' 350 bp 55 Exon10 5' ATTCTCTATTTCCACCCCCT 3' G11 5' CATAATGAAGAGCCACAA 3' 406 bp 54 Exon11 5' ACAATCAAGAAGGAAAGC 3' G12 5' CCCTGGTGGTCAGTCTTCA 3' 289 bp 57 Exon12 5' GGGGCTTTAGGGGGTAGA 3' G13 5'TCAAGATGGAGATGCCAGGACAG 3' 349 bp 65 Exon13 5'CGGGAGGAGCTATGAGAAAGGTT 3' G14 5' GGTGCTAACCAGGTGACAA 3' 293 bp 56 Exon13 5' GCATAACCGCAAGGAATT 3' </p>