>
> >I would like an explanation as to the mechanism by which creatures
> delivered without benefit of placenta or mammary can receive immunity from
> their
> parents.


It's a little complex for a quick explanation, and I will be the first to
express my very limited understanding.  There are several mechanisms
involved, involving up or down regulation of genes (how strongly they are
expressed).

Here's an introduction from a little light reading by Eva Jablonka (thanks
to Peter Borst for bringing it to my attention):"
"We therefore define cellular epigenetic inheritance
as the transmission from mother cell to
daughter cell of variations that are not the
result of differences in DNA base sequence
and/or the present environment. Trans-
mission can be through chromatin marks,
through RNAs, through self-reconstructing
three-dimensional structures, and through
self-sustaining metabolic loops (Jablonka
et al. 1992; Jablonka and Lamb 1995, 2005,
2007a). It occurs following cell division in
prokaryotes, mitotic cell division in the
soma of eukaryotes, and sometimes follow-
ing the meiotic divisions in the germline.
The chromatin and RNA-mediated cellular
inheritance systems seem to play an impor-
tant role in inheritance through the germ-
line in both females and males."

TRANSGENERATIONAL EPIGENETIC INHERITANCE:
PREVALENCE, MECHANISMS, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE
STUDY OF HEREDITY AND EVOLUTION
The Quarterly Review of Biology, June 2009, Vol. 84, No. 2



> >In honeybees, the part of the genome devoted to immunity is reported  to
> be
> small when compared to the limited  range of other insects  studied.


Or, more accurately, devoted to detoxification, compared to flies and
mosquitos.

I'm currently reading the above paper, and will post any additional tidbits
of interest.

Randy Oliver

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