Figure 1.

Experimental design (A) and sampling of geese ovarian follicles (B). Cohorts of follicles include pre-hierarchical (follicles with diameters of 4–6 and 8–10 mm, marked by the red arrowheads and white arrows, respectively) and hierarchical follicles (F5 follicles, marked by red arrows) collected from three individual geese. Both granulosa and theca layers, separated from these follicles, were used for mRNA and small RNA sequencing, followed by a series of bioinformatics analyses. GP4, GP8, and GHF5 represent granulosa layers isolated from 4–6-mm, 8–10-mm, and F5 follicles, respectively. TP4, TP8, and THF5 represent theca layers isolated from the 4–6-mm, 8–10-mm, and F5 follicles, respectively.