Table 1

Composition of experimental diets for trial animals %"

Table 2

qRT-PCR primers information"

Fig. 1

The tissue sections of rumen at 4 different developmental stages A.HE staining at 40×; B.HE staining at 100×. E.Epithelial layer; Lp.Lamina propria; Tm.Tunica muscularis; S.Serosa; Eb.Basal layer; Eg.Granular layer; Es.Spinous layer; Ec.Stratum corneum"

Table 3

Effects of different developmental stages on the morphology of lamb rumen papillae"

Table 4

Statistical analysis of transcriptome sequencing data of rumen tissues in lambs at different developmental stages"

Fig. 2

Comparison of differentially expressed genes among rumen tissues at different developmental stages ER represents the embryonic stage; LR represents the fetal stage; FR represents the neonatal stage; AR represents the mature stage. Figure A-C. Pair-wise comparison of differentially expressed genes among rumen tissues at different developmental stages: The X-axis represents the logarithmic fold change (log2 FC) of gene expression, a positive value indicates up-regulation of genes, while a negative value indicates down-regulation; The Y-axis represents-log10(FDR), reflecting the statistical significance of the differences, the smaller the FDR value, the larger the Y-axis value, indicating that the difference of the gene is more significant. The red dots in the figures represent genes with significant differences (FDR < 0.05). Figure D. Correlation analysis of differentially expressed genes among different rumen tissues"

Fig. 3

Analysis of differentially expressed gene modules The X-axis represents the names of the divided modules, and the Y-axis represents the names of the samples. Inside the box, the darker the red color, the higher the expression level"

Table 5

KEGG and GO annotation results"

Fig. 4

Differential genes qRT-PCR validation The left Y-axis is the qRT-PCR result, and the right Y-axis is the transcriptome sequencing result"

Fig. 5

The expression of IGF1 protein in rumen at different developmental stages DAPI in blue, IGF1 in green, and MERGE in merged colors. IGF1 is expressed in the basal and spinous layers of the rumen at embryonic (ER) and fetal (LR) stages, and in the spinous layer at the neonatal stage of the rumen (FR) as the rumen develops, and in the granular layer at the mature stage (AR). Scale bar=100 μm"

Fig. 6

The expression of MCT1 protein in rumen at different developmental stages Blue indicates DAPI, green indicates MCT1, and the merged color is MERGE. MCT1 is expressed in the basal and spinous layers during the embryonic (ER) and fetal (LR) stages. With the development of the rumen, it is expressed in the spinous layer during the neonatal stage, and in the granular layer during the mature stage. Scale bar=100 μm"