GENETIC INFLUENCES ON TOLERANCE PERSISTENCE AND SPECIFICITY IN CHICKENS

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Abstract
Genetic influences on completeness and specificity of tolerance induced by whole blood injections into newly hatched chicks have been investigated. Donor cells from 1-week-old chicks had no adverse effects on weight gains or survival but produced some degree of tolerance in all recipient chicks. Cells from 2- to 9-week-old donors were apparently capable of producing splenomegaly and heavy mortality but did not always do so. The injection of whole blood in one combination of genetically diverse lines (R -> C) produced no splenomegaly in a proportion of the recipients. Specificity of tolerance was high or low depending on donor-host line combination, viz. R->C produced tolerance to R but little or no tolerance to N grafts, whereas N->C produced tolerance to N and R grafts. Discussion of the results centers on the hypothesis that cross-tolerance is due to shared antigens.