BACKGROUND: Dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) is a critical enzyme in the biosynthesis of catecholamines. This enzyme's role in neuroendocrine regulation is well known, but there are some indications that it may also modulate reproduction and endocrine in mammals and birds. We selected goose (Anas cygnoides) as an ideal model species for investigating the role of DBH in avian reproduction. RESULTS: Full-length cDNA encoding DBH was cloned from Zhedong goose using reverse transcription PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The cDNA consisted of a 126-base pair (bp) 5'-untranslated region (UTR), a 379-bp 3'-UTR, and an 1896-bp open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 631 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence of gDBH shared high homology with an analogue from other birds and contained three conserved domains from a mono-oxygenase family including a DOMON domain and two Cu2_mono-oxygen domains. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis showed that gDBH mRNA was expressed in both reproductive and endocrine tissues of Zhedong goose, specifically in the hypothalamus, pituitary, ovary, and oviduct. More DBH mRNA of reproductive and endocrine tissues was detected at ovulation than at oviposition in Zhedong goose. Evidence of opposite trend of gDBH expression was found between the hypothalamus-pituitary and oviduct during the ovulation phase and the broody phase. In addition, we assessed DBH mRNA expression during ovulation in two breeds of geese that differ in egg production. The reproductive and endocrine tissues of Yangzhou geese with higher egg production had more gDBH expression than Zhedong geese. Finally, the five non-synonymous SNP(c.1739 C > T, c.1760G > T, c.1765A > G, c.1792 T > C and c.1861G > C) were identified in the coding region of DBH gene between Zhedong goose and Yangzhou goose. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that goose DBH mRNA show obvious periodically variation in reproductive and endocrine tissues during the reproductive cycle in geese.