Figure 4.

Inheritance of stress-induced alterations depends on the germline. Before mating, body weight of stress-exposed and control sires ( a ) or of dams ( b ) was similar (control: n  = 10; stress: n  = 10). After natural mating, offspring litter size ( c ) and birth weight ( d ) are similar in mice sired by stress-exposed or control males. After weaning, male ( e ) and female ( f ) offspring of stress-exposed males gain significantly less weight than controls ( n  = 32–41/group). Repeating the experiment with AI instead of natural breeding, body weight of parents was again similar ( g, h ; control: n  = 8; stress: n  = 9). Dams deliver similar size litters ( i ) with no difference in birth weight between groups ( j ). Male offspring of stress-exposed fathers gain less weight than controls ( k ) but females show normal weight gain ( l , n  = 20–31 per sex per group). * P  < 0.5, ** P  < 0.01 following Fisher’s post hoc test after ANOVAs