Animal Molecular Breeding, 2025, Vol.15, No.1, 19-28 http://animalscipublisher.com/index.php/amb 19 Review Article Open Access Genetic Mechanisms and Evolutionary Trajectories of Goose Domestication Yanlin Wang1, JiaXuan2 1 Tropical Animal Resources Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China 2 Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding author: jia.xuan@jicat.org Animal Molecular Breeding, 2025, Vol.15, No.1 doi: 10.5376/amb.2025.15.0003 Received: 18 Dec., 2024 Accepted: 25 Jan., 2025 Published: 10 Feb., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Wang and Xuan, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Wang Y.L., and Xuan J., 2025, Genetic mechanisms and evolutionary trajectories of goose domestication, Animal Molecular Breeding, 15(1): 19-28 (doi: 10.5376/amb.2025.15.0003) Abstract The domestication of geese is an important direction in the study of the evolution of poultry and the origin of agriculture. This process is rather complex, involving origin and evolution, multiple hybridization, and human selection pressure, etc. This study collated the genomic and evolutionary research achievements in the domestication of geese in recent years, reviewed the "dual origin" hypothesis of domestic geese, the changes in population structure, and how some major traits were regulated by genes during the domestication process. This study, through methods such as comparative genomics, selective signal analysis, and transcriptome, revealed how the genes of domestic geese have changed over a long period of artificial selection and natural adaptation. This study aims to establish a theoretical framework for understanding the genetic mechanism and evolutionary process of goose domestication, providing a scientific basis for the conservation of goose resources and molecular breeding. Keywords Goose domestication; Population genomics; Candidate genes; Gene flow and hybridization; Phenotypic trait evolution 1 Introduction The goose was one of the earliest domestic fowls domesticated by humans. The domestication history of geese in China can be traced back to over 7 000 years ago, and the global domestication history also exceeds 6 000 years. It is an important representative animal in the research of bird domestication and agricultural origin (Lu et al., 2015; Eda et al., 2022; Huang et al., 2025). Geese have high economic value and can provide meat, eggs and feathers. They also have some unique physiological characteristics such as fast growth, strong disease resistance and strong lipid storage capacity of the liver (Lu et al., 2015). Geese are very important in agriculture. However, compared with other domestic fowls such as chickens and ducks, the genetic basis and domestication process of geese have not been systematically studied (Lu et al., 2015; Chen et al., 2023). Genomic technology has developed rapidly in recent years, making it easier to conduct a comprehensive study of the domestication mechanism of geese (Li et al., 2024). Chen et al. (2023) and Zhang et al. (2023) discovered through whole-genome resequencing and comparative genomics studies that geese have undergone the selection of multiple key genes during the domestication process. These genes are related to many important traits such as the nervous system, immune function, metabolism, vision, bone structure and blood oxygen transport. Heikkinen et al. (2020) and Chen et al. (2023) demonstrated that frequent hybridization and gene flow between wild geese and domestic geese also had an impact on the domestication process. These factors have made the population structure of geese more complex and also caused domestic goose groups in different regions of Central Europe to exhibit obvious genetic mixed characteristics. This study introduces the origin and population structure of domestic geese, identifies some key genetic variations and related pathways selected during the domestication process, and explains the important role of gene flow and hybridization in the formation of the genetic characteristics of modern domestic geese. This study aims to deepen people's understanding of the domestication process of geese and provide scientific references for future breeding and conservation work.
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