Fig. 1.

Morphological characteristics of exosomes and significantly expressed miRNAs. Morphological characteristics of exosomes in Lohmann cecal contents (A) and in Hy-line cecal contents (B). White arrows indicate exosomes. C Ten differentially expressed miRNAs between the two breeds. Asterisk indicates a significant difference in an miRNA between the two breeds, and significant differences between the means were determined by Tukey’s test. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05, and the bar graph in C shows the expression level of these 10 miRNAs. The bars on the “0” X axis indicate upregulation in the Hy-line hens compared to the Lohmann hens, and the bars under the “0” X axis indicate downregulation in the Hy-line hens compared to the Lohmann hens