UTERINE EFFECTS, EPIGENETICS, AND POSTNATAL SKELETAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE MOUSE

Reciprocal embryo transfer experiments show that skeletal dimensions in adult mice are significantly influenced by the genotype of the female providing the uterine environment in which they were raised. Embryo transfers among C3HeB/FeJ, SWR/J, and the C3SWF, hybrid strain (C3H females x SWR males) permit separation of uterine maternal genotype effects from effects arising from the progeny's own genotype. Many different aspects of adult skeletal form are significantly influenced by uterine genotype and, in some instances, the pattern of these effects correlates with events during skeletal embryology. Analyses involving the highly heterozygous C3SWF₁ strain demonstrate the existence of significant dominance in maternal genes affecting skeletal development in the progeny. Further, there is a large skeletal effect due to progeny heterosis. Uterine Utter size can be manipulated as a nonheritable component of variability in embryo transfer experiments, and it has a large and systemic effect on skeletal growth and morphogenesis that persists in adult mice. Heritable uterine maternal effects are epigenetic interactions during development that can be incorporated into models of evolutionary change to provide a more complete picture of the causal agents producing morphological change.