FIGURE 4.

(A–C) RNA-seq data analysis showed the expression of MC5R (A), MRAP1 (B), and MRAP2 (C) in adult Lohmann Layer strain chicken tissues. Each dot represents an individual. The transcripts per million (TPM) values were used to estimate the abundance of mRNA transcripts. (D) Quantitative real-time PCR assay of MC5R mRNA levels in Lohmann Layer strain chicken tissues, including the cerebellum, midbrain, cerebrum, hindbrain, hypothalamus, anterior pituitary, kidney, liver, lung, muscle, skin, testis, abdominal fat, heart, spleen, and ovary. The mRNA levels of target genes were normalized to that of β-actin and expressed as the fold difference compared with that of the midbrain. Each data point represents the mean ± SEM of six adult chickens (N = 6, three males and three females, one-year-old), except for that of ovary and testis, which represent the mean ± SEM of three adult chickens (N = 3). Different superscripts (A–D) among the different developmental stages are significantly different (p < 0.05) by one-way ANOVA test, followed by Dunn’s multiple comparison test. (E) The mRNA expression of five MCRs in the Lohmann Layer liver tissue using transcriptome data from our gene expression atlas (https://chickenatlas.avianscu.com/). The transcripts per million (TPM) values were used to estimate the abundance of mRNA transcripts.