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Kit-ligand (KITL) plays a crucial role in skin melanocyte development and maintenance. However, the KITL function and its influence on Youzhou dark goat skin pigmentation remains unclear. The present study cloned goat KITL gene sequence, predicted the physicochemical properties of the gene-encoding protein, and analyzed the different expression level in goat tissue. The result showed that the coding region of goat KITL gene was 825-bp long and encoded 274 amino acids. The goat KITL amino acid sequence had high homology with this molecule in other mammalian species. And the KITL gene was extensively expressed at 0-, 12-, and 24-month-old goat tissue. Moreover, the mRNA and protein of KITL were increasing at 0-, 12-, and 24-month-old goat skin, which were confirmed by real-time qPCR, western blotting and immunohistochemical analysis. This study provides a theoretical basis for further clarifying the biological function of the KITL gene in goat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]