FEBS letters
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Parental effects are a major source of phenotypic plasticity. Moreover, there is evidence from studies with a wide range of species that the relevant parental signals are influenced by the quality of the parental environment. ⋯ Thus, studies of variation in mother-offspring interactions in rodents suggest that parental signals operate during pre- and/or post-natal life to influence the DNA methylation state at specific regions of the genome leading to sustained changes in gene expression and function. We suggest that DNA methylation is a candidate mechanism for parental effects on phenotypic variation.