Bursa lymphocytes and IgM‐containing cells in chicken embryos bursectomized at 52–64 hours of incubation

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Abstract
A technique of surgical removal of the bursal primordium (“bursectomy”) of chicken embryos at stage 17, approximately 52–64 hours and 29–32 somites, is described. The survival rate of bursectomized (Bx) embryos approached a level of 50% on the 21 st day. About 20% of correctly Bx embryos exhibited malformations of the anal sphincter and the large intestine. Using a rabbit anti-bursacyte serum, which did not react with thymocytes, the specific bursa-derived cell (Bu) marker was detected on the surface of bursa, spleen, bone marrow and thymus lymphocytes. Early embryonic bursectomy caused a moderate depletion of Bu marker-bearing and IgM-containing cells. It has been postulated that embryonic Bu cells can be recruited from sites other than the bursa and in the absence of the bursa.
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