Figure 1. Schematic for maternal effect paradigms.
Maternal effect paradigms typically involve altered access to nutrients, with key paradigms including under or overnutrition prior to conception, during preimplantation development, or later in pregnancy. Phenotypes are then typically studied in F1 offspring. In a subset of experimental systems, F1 offspring are bred either with control animals or with one another to identify multigenerational effects of fetal undernutrition.