Fig. 10

Transcriptional regulators predicted to regulate DEGs observed in the pituitary of HG and LG chickens. Upstream regulator analysis using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis was performed on the dataset of 291 genes with a significant line-by-age interaction or a significant main effect of line (P ≤ 0.05; n = 4 birds per line) and a difference in expression of at least 1.6-fold between lines. This analysis identified transcription factors with direct actions on differentially expressed target genes. a Transcriptional regulators associated with pituitary development and function that could contribute to differential expression of pituitary hormones were identified. b A large number of differentially expressed genes between the two lines are also predicted to be regulated by glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1). Upstream regulators colored orange are predicted to have higher activity in HG birds, and upstream regulators colored blue are predicted to have higher activity in LG birds. Genes within the dataset that are colored red were more highly expressed in the HG line, and genes within the dataset that are colored green were more highly expressed in the LG line. The color of the line connecting transcriptional regulators to differentially expressed genes indicates IPA prediction of whether transcription factor activity should lead to upregulation (orange line) or downregulation (blue line) of the DEG targets