Relationship of the Bursa of Fabricius to Immunologic Responsiveness and Homograft Immunity in the Chicken.

Chicks bursectomized at hatching showed reduced antibody production to BSA, Brucella abortus antigen, and T2 coliphage, compared to controls. Chicks hatching from 19-nortestosterone-treated eggs, lacking the bursa of Fabricius, also showed a deficient homograft response to injections of adult homologous spleen cells manifested by splenomegaly, histologic changes characteristic of the graft-versus-host reaction, and signs of the runting syndrome.