Figure 10

Relative expression of a subset of 77 OR genes at three different ages. RTqPCR was performed for 77 OR mRNAs, with olfactory epithelium mRNA prepared from 3 adult rats, 3 old rats and 9 newborn rats from three litters (L1, L2 and L4) used as a template (i.e. 15 samples, each analyzed in triplicate). Results are expressed as ΔΔCt values with Hprt taken as a reference (x axis). Gene names are distributed into four sectors, from top to bottom: (A) Gαolf, which is clearly less strongly expressed at birth and Gapdh, which is expressed at similar levels in all age groups, (B) 5 OR genes more strongly expressed at birth than later in life, (C) 43 OR genes far less strongly expressed at birth than at other ages and (D) 29 genes expressed to a similar extent at birth and at other ages or only slightly less strongly expressed at birth.