Fig. 4

Expression levels of genes encoding metabolically active proteins in subcutaneous adipose tissue of purebred and crossbred Large White or Meishan fetuses gestated by sows of either breed. Subcutaneous adipose tissues sampled from 4 fetal genotypes on d 90 or d 110 of development were analyzed (n = 6 per age and per genotype). LW and F1_LW were from LW sows, whereas Meishan (MeiS) and F1_MeiS were from MeiS sows. The mRNA levels of target genes in dorsal subcutaneous adipose tissue were measured by qPCR. Analysis of variance was used to determine the main effects of developmental age and fetal genotype and their interaction effect (age × genotype) on expression levels of the target genes. Values were expressed as mRNA levels of the target gene relative to mRNA levels of housekeeping genes (arbitrary units). Least squares means sharing a common superscript letter did not significantly differ (P > 0.05)