Fig. 1

Overview of differentially expressed genes. a Numbers of total, up-regulated in high egg producing hens (HEPH), and up-regulated in low egg producing hens (LEPH) differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the hypothalamus of LEPH and HEPH sampled outside (basal) and during (surge) the preovulatory surge (PS) (RPKM> 0.2, P < 0.05). The portion of genes that are unannotated in the turkey genome are represented in dark blue and the portion of gene that are annotated in the turkey genome are represented in light blue (Turkey 2.01, ENSEMBL annotation 98). b Numbers of total, up-regulated in HEPH, and up-regulated in LEPH DEGs in the pituitary of LEPH and HEPH sampled outside (basal) and during (surge) the preovulatory surge (RPKM> 0.2, P < 0.05). The portion of genes that are unannotated in the turkey genome are represented in dark blue and the portion of gene that are annotated in the turkey genome are represented in light blue (Turkey 2.01, ENSEMBL annotation 98). c Venn diagram showing the number of DEGs in the hypothalamus during the ovulatory cycle unique to LEPH and HEPH as well as the number of DEGs during the ovulatory cycle common to both groups of hens (RPKM> 0.2, P < 0.05). d Venn diagram showing the number of DEGs in the pituitary during the ovulatory cycle unique to LEPH and HEPH as well as the number of DEGs during the ovulatory cycle common to both groups of hens (RPKM> 0.2, P < 0.05). e Common hypothalamic DEGs during the ovulatory cycle in both LEPH and HEPH broken down by expression pattern during the PS (RPKM> 0.2, P < 0.05). f Common pituitary DEGs during the ovulatory cycle in both LEPH and HEPH broken down by expression pattern during the PS (RPKM> 0.2, P < 0.05)