The Immune Response in the Chicken: Lymphoid Development of the Bursa of Fabricius and Thymus and an Immune Response Role for the Gland of Harder

Central to the immune response is the normal embryonic development of thymic-derived lymphocytes (T-cells) and bursal or bone marrow derived lymphocytes (B cells). Jolly (1915) believed the primary hemocytoblasts originated from mesenchymal cells which differentiate into lymphocytes within the endodermal environment of the bursa of Fabricius. Morphological studies of the bursa by Ackerman and Knouff (1959) and Ackerman (1962) suggested a direct transformation of epithelial cells to medullary lymphocytes with a portion of the cortical lymphocytes derived from stellate mesenchymal cells and epithelial cell migration. Evidence for the transformation of a blood-borne progenitor cell to bursal lymphocyte has been reviewed (Glick, 1977). Now, the elegant experiments of LeDouarin, using interspecies chimeras, will be discussed to extend the previous review. Lymphoid Development in Bursa of Fabricius and Thymus. The interphase nuclei of the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) and the domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) are distinguished by the presence of a . . .