On Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:50:33 EDT, [log in to unmask] wrote:
>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.  

> exposure to dietary non-pathogenic bacteria can induce several aspects of immune 
response in an insect herbivore, the cabbage semilooper (Trichoplusia ni). Here, we test the 
effects of this exposure on the immune status of the next generation, measuring immune 
parameters on three different levels—enzyme activities, protein expression and transcript 
abundance. We also monitored fitness-related traits which are often negatively correlated 
with increased immunocompetence. We found evidence for trans-generational priming on all 
these levels, with immune system parameters that are clearly not transmitted in a 1 : 1 ratio 
from parent to offspring, but rather in a complex manner with a strong but not exclusive 
maternal component. These findings indicate that trans-generational priming is a complex 
and multifaceted phenomenon, potentially playing a role as a long-term but non-genetic 
mode of environmental adaptation.

"Dietary-dependent trans-generational immune priming in an insect herbivore"
Dalial Freitak, David G. Heckel and Heiko Vogel 
Proc. R. Soc. B -- April 2009

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