Fig. 3

Growth performance and phenotype of adult chicken. a Body weight of adult chicken. Asterisks indicate a statistically significant difference in body weight between reversal and male chicken. p < 0.001. b Shank length of adult chicken. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences in shank length. p < 0.001. N.S. indicate not statistically significant differences in shank length. p > 0.05. c Physical and gonadal appearance of adult chicken. Left: secondary sexual characteristics of adult chicken. Hackle feathers are marked by black arrow head and wattles are marked by asterisk. Right: left gonadal appearance and inner structure of adult chicken. Late-stage spermatid can be observed in male seminiferous tubules (black arrow). Bar = 50 μm. d Ultrastructural analysis of spermatic ultrathin sections from reversal and male chicken. Clear acrosome (A), perforatorium (P) and nucleus (N) can be observed in male sperm with slightly waved plasma membrane (black arrow). Bar = 2 μm