GENETIC INFLUENCES ON TOLERANCE PERSISTENCE AND SPECIFICITY IN CHICKENS

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.