THE EFFECTS OF ANTIBIOTICS AND X-IRRADIATION ON THE SURVIVAL OF SCALE HOMOGRAFTS IN FUNDULUS HETEROCLITUS

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Abstract
This study is concerned with the homograft reaction in the teleost fish, Fundulus heteroclitus. A simple quantitative estimate of graft survival was made by taking daily counts of the number of melanocytes on six scale homografts. At 28 [plus or minus] 1 C the end-point of graft survival occurred maximally at 3 days as evidenced by the presence of disrupted melanocytes. Prolongation of homograft survival was attempted using antibiotics and X-irradiation. The antibodies, albamy-cin and neomycin sulfate, hardly affected the survival of homografts, while stylomycin and actidione prolonged the survival until the 8th and 9th days respectively. At 500r grafts survived 1 day past those of controls. At 1000-1500r homograft survival was prolonged until the 9th and 7th days respectively. When host fish were irradiated at 2000r and 3000r there was an increase in the number of deaths, due to the lethal effects of these dose levels. One fish irradiated at 2000r lived with grafts intact until the 27th day. The majority of cases irradiated at 3000r lived until the 11th day with one exception, a fish that lived with the grafts intact until the 15th day.