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immunities and antibodies

diablohogs

diablohogs

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how are antibodies transfered from parent to sibling in leopard geckos? are they contained withing the yolk and passed down from the mother (like how they are passed from mother to child from breast milk in mammals)?

if so wouldnt outcrossing inbred or line bred males to wild caught females be extremely beneficial for the siblings of that crossing in the way of immunities?
 
That is an interesting idea...

from my understanding antibodies are produced in the eggs from the mother. The only serious draw back with the plan is the exposure of both geckos to NEW pathogens to which neither have an immunity to & you could wipe out all geckos involved. Wild caught geckos have not been exposed to the bacteria we carry (or the ones found in our enclosures, etc...) and the captive breed gecko has not been exposed to the bacteria (and probably parasites) the wild caught female may have. I know once you put the wild caught in captivity and get it acclimated (and eliminate the parasites), it should do fine & obviously wild caught geckos have been crossed with captive bred geckos. I just don't know that there would be any benefit to the immunity levels for the offspring of a cross like that.
 
Good Question!

This is a great question, and I have a general feeling that introducing line-bred genes back in to wild caught genes would most certainly strengthen the species genetically... but, when wild-caught Leopard Geckos are housed in captivity, their natural immunities start to diminish, and they become susceptible to infections and disease. Once they are out of their natural environment and fed prey that is not indigenous (like crickets), they can no longer keep their parasite loads under control and become sensitive to parasitic and bacterial infections. To me, this would indicate that much of their natural immunities are environmentally dependent.
 
If I hypothesize that reptile immunity functions like mammal immunity (I am an immunologist, but not a reptile immunologist. No one is perfect), cross-breeding wild caught and captive-bred geckos would not help much in terms of immunity. And I am only thinking about immunity here because diversification of genes in general is beneficial in my opinion.
The way the immune system works allows it to generate antibodies against almost everything in the universe using very few genes. We all have these antibodies, but in very very small amounts. The amount of antibodies directed to a given pathogen will increase if we encounter this pathogen or get immunized against it and will stay high to help fight it faster if we encounter the pathogen again. It is therefore a very good protection for the newborn to get the antibodies from his mother, he will get the ones he needs to fight the pathogens that are around at that time. A mother that comes from a totaly different environment, with different pathogens, will bring antibodies that are not essential for the newborn (unless she brings the pathogens with her...).
Immunity decreases in captive-bred geckos as it does in humans living in our sterile western world and this is suspected to play a role in the increase in autoimmune diseases and allergies. There is a downside to everything...
 
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