The chicken B cell compartment.
A very unusual molecular mechanism is involved in generating the preimmune repertoire in the chicken bursa of Fabricius. A unique rearranged V gene is diversified through a program of segmental gene conversion with a pool of noncoding pseudogenes being used as donors. A specifically committed progenitor that originates in the embryonic bursa is responsible for long-term maintenance of the B cell population. Both these properties and the characteristics of the peripheral B cell compartment are discussed in terms of the evolution of the T and B immune systems.
Weill
J C
JC
Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, Université Paris, France.
Reynaud
C A
CA
D000818:Animals; D000916:Antibody Diversity; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000196:embryology / Q000276:immunology*; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000235:genetics*
D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007136:Immunoglobulins