Figure 9

Expression profiles of some representative genes from 5 clusters (C1 to C5), defined using supervised hierarchical clustering, during follicular maturation and early embryogenesis. Real time PCR analyses were performed in duplicate on samples at 18 different stages with two biological replicates. Total mRNA of GDR and GCs from different preovulatory follicles (F1 to F6), and from GDR of just ovulated oocytes and early embryos at 6.5 h, 12 h, 24 h, 36 h and 48 h post ovulation were extracted as described in the Materials and Methods. Three different reporter genes were used (β actin, ef1 α and gapdh) because their expression was stable during oogenesis and early embryo development (data not shown). Results represent means ± SEM. The same letters indicate that differences were not significant. Different letters indicate that differences were significant (p < 0.05).