FIGURE 8.

Expression changes of melanopsin (Opn4) mRNA in the VTA of birds at 14 and 42 days of age. Light intensity programs were changed at day 7–5, 20, 480 lx (NL house), 2–5 lx/40 lx (VL house). Brains of male bird were sampled on days 14 and 42 (n = 12/section, 4 sections/house). VTA of the midbrain from each bird was dissected as described in Figure 5. Total RNA was extracted and used for RT-qPCR. Data were set as the relative fold changes of expression levels using the ΔΔCt method with GAPDH and β-actin as internal controls. Data (mean ± SEM) were expressed from a value set for 1.0 for 5 lx birds at 14 days of age. Different lower-case letters above the bars denote significant differences (p < 0.05) among groups, where a>b>c and b,c is not different from b or c.