Functional Egg Immunoglobulins in the snake Elaphe guttata

Adaptive immunity, when vertically transmitted from mother to offspring, creates an essential advantage for the fitness of a species. The transfer of maternal antibodies provides a considerable degree of protection to the offspring from birth on, especially against virulent pathogens (Powell, 1987). Although it has been known since long time that birds are able to accumulate a considerable amount of antibodies in the egg yolk (Klemperer, 1883), and a deposition of immunoglobulins in eggs is even documented in fish (e.g. Hayman and Lobb, 1993), only very scarce information is available about this phenomenon in reptiles. Hassl and Hassl (1986) demonstrated that immunoglobulins are a component of the egg content of colubrid snakes, but a detailed characterisation of the egg antibodies is still lacking. The aims of this study were the axiomatic demonstration of a consistent transmission of specific immunoglobulins via snake eggs and a biochemical characterisation of these immunoglobulins. Ten unhatched, fertilised eggs of two captive borne, four years old sibling females of Elaphe guttata were taken in 1985 for antibody isolation. Six month before the egg laying both snakes were immunised with highly pure bovine serum albumin (BSA, Merck Darmstadt, FRG) by the conventional adjuvant method aiming to produce a massive secondary immune answer. The egg contents were mixed and pooled, the volume was determined, and the frac-