Hepatic Acetyl CoA Carboxylase, Propionyl CoA Carboxylase and Pyruvate Carboxylase Activities During Embryonic Development and Growth in Chickens

Acetyl CoA carboxylase activity was negligible in embryonic chicken liver, but increased markedly after hatching to adult levels in 2 weeks. Very high pyruvate carboxylase activity observed in embryonic livers progressively decreased, reached minimum values 10–14 days posthatching, and thereafter increased to adult levels. Propionyl CoA carboxylase, on the other hand, showed no such adaptive changes throughout the period studied.