Table 1.
Summary of phenotypic characteristics of ovulatory-size follicles subjected to RNA-seq analysis
| Follicle type (cpFSH dose) | COC morphology | Follicles/heifer (%)a | Estrogen-active (EA) or inactive (EI) (E:P ratio) |
Follicle diameter (mm) | Concentration (ng/mL) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estradiol | Progesterone | Oxytocin | |||||
| Type 1 (70 IU) | Compact | 79 ± 6 | EA (2.99 ± 0.51) |
12.9 ± 1.2 | 155 ± 15 (n = 7, 7)b |
54 ± 9 (n = 7, 7) |
0.27 ± 0.04 (n = 7, 7) |
| Type 2 (210 IU) | Compact | 28 ± 3 | EA (1.80 ± 0.51) |
12.2 ± 0.6 | 153 ± 37 (n = 6, 6) |
85 ± 30 (n = 6, 6) |
0.36 ± 0.05 (n = 6, 6) |
| Type 3 (210 IU) | Expanded | 26 ± 5 | EA (2.60 ± 0.89) |
12.5 ± 0.9 | 217 ± 51 (n = 6, 6) |
83 ± 16 (n = 6, 6) |
0.31 ± 0.06 (n = 6, 6) |
| Type 4(210 IU) | Expanded | 20 ± 3 | EI (0.01 ± 0.01)** |
10.4 ± 0.2 | 8 ± 7** (n = 5, 5) |
747 ± 546*** (n = 5, 5) |
4.04 ± 0.86*** (n = 5, 5) |
Follicle characteristics include COC morphology, proportion of ovulatory-size follicles per heifer, estrogen-active (EA) or estrogen-inactive (EI) and estradiol:progesterone ratio (E:P), follicle diameter (mm), estradiol, progesterone and oxytocin concentrations. Data for E:P ratio, estradiol, progesterone, and oxytocin concentration were generated from Table S1.
Asterisks (**P < .01, ***P < .001) denote differences between the geometric means (±SEM). All comparisons were relative to Type 1 follicles, since these were considered representative of preovulatory follicles in cattle and were from standard (70 IU) cpFSH dose treated heifers.
a Proportion of each follicle type per heifer (number of Type 1, 2, 3, or 4 follicles, respectively/total number of ovulatory-size follicles).
b n = number of heifers, total number of ovulatory-size follicles.