Experimental Design: The Effect of Molecular Structure on the Inheritance of Transgenerational Memory

It is found that the olfactory experience of the parents could influence the behaviors and the structure of neuroanatomy. Transgenerational inheritance has been found in multiple species including animals and plants. The research in 2014 found that the epigenetic marks in the sperm of mice parent could be the mechanism of passing the transgenerational memory to the next generation, in which certain odor-responsive locus, Olfr151, has lower methylation level. However, it remains unclear that if Olfr151 is the only locus that is responsive for the inheritance of odor-conditioned transgenerational memory. Besides, there could be other mechanisms that can contribute to the inheritance of transgenerational memory. We designed this set of experiments to test if the transgenerational memory would be lost after restoring the methylation level of Olfr151 locus, and we will further research on the effect of molecular structure on the inheritance of transgenerational memory.