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<p>Keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are a structural component of cashmere fibre, and variation in some KAP genes (<i>KRTAP</i>s) has been associated with a number of caprine fibre traits. In this study, we report the identification of <i>KRTAP15-1</i> in goats. Sequence variation in the gene was detected using the polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) technique in 250 Longdong goats, and six variants (named A to F) containing eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. Five of the SNPs were non-synonymous and would lead to putative amino acid changes. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis revealed that <i>KRTAP15-1</i> was expressed in secondary hair follicles but not in heart tissue, liver tissue, lung tissue, kidney tissue or the longissimus dorsi muscle. Despite being rich in cysteine, the caprine KAP15-1 protein possesses a high content of serine and moderate content of glycine and phenylalanine. Association analyses revealed that <i>KRTAP15-1</i> variant A was associated with decreased mean fibre diameter (MFD), and this effect appeared to be dominant; while variant C was found to be associated with increased MFD, the effect being recessive. The findings suggest that caprine <i>KRTAP15-1 </i>is highly polymorphic and that variation in this gene affects cashmere MFD.</p>