486
JOHN E. CUSHING
previously stimulated with sheep erythrocytes, being tested for antibody
production, Active cells diffuse antibodies into their vicinity during a
period of incubation. At the end of this period the agar plate i s flooded
with guinea pig complement with the result that hemolytic plaques
appear around antibody producing cells. Smith and his associates found
that the guinea pig complement was unsatisfactory in the demonstration of antibody production by the bluegill, Lepomis macrohirtis. However, effective results were obtained using either isologous complement
or that of the pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus, or the marine white
perch, lllorene americana. Hemolytic antibodies were produced by
cells from both spleen and pronephros, which contained large numbers
of active cells. The latter observation is most interesting when, as these
authors discuss, one considers that there are marked similarities between
the cellular structure of the pronephros and mammalian lymph nodes
that suggest a common concern with the filtration of fluids in both
organs.
Chiller et al. (1968) found, using the Jerne method, that the denionstration of antibody formation by rainbow trout cells was dependent
on isologous complement or that of closely related species, and, in their
case, incubation within a range of temperature between 4' and 20°C.
Sephadex G-200 fractionation showed that plaque activating complement
occurred in a different fraction from the natural hemolytic activity of
trout serum, a point as yet unexplained. Two types of active cells were
observed. The first, forming small plaques, appeared in the anterior
kidney and then in the spleen. The second, forming large plaques, appeared in the same sequence, but occurred later during immunization.
The largest number of active cells appeared in the spleen.
The above two papers have great significance not only to the study
of fish complement but also because of their potential value in bringing
the relatively simple and effective Jerne method to bear on problems
concerned with the evolution of the cellular basis of antibody production
in fish. A final point to note is that the differences observed relative
to incubation temperatures for the two species reported above further
confirm that different species have different temperature optimuins of
immunological activity (Cushing, 1945; Gewurz et al., 1966; and espccially Ridgway et al., 1966).
V. BLOOD GROUPS
Blood group polymorphism has been found in all species of vertebrates so far investigated and some of the antigens involved, notably
JOHN E. CUSHING
previously stimulated with sheep erythrocytes, being tested for antibody
production, Active cells diffuse antibodies into their vicinity during a
period of incubation. At the end of this period the agar plate i s flooded
with guinea pig complement with the result that hemolytic plaques
appear around antibody producing cells. Smith and his associates found
that the guinea pig complement was unsatisfactory in the demonstration of antibody production by the bluegill, Lepomis macrohirtis. However, effective results were obtained using either isologous complement
or that of the pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus, or the marine white
perch, lllorene americana. Hemolytic antibodies were produced by
cells from both spleen and pronephros, which contained large numbers
of active cells. The latter observation is most interesting when, as these
authors discuss, one considers that there are marked similarities between
the cellular structure of the pronephros and mammalian lymph nodes
that suggest a common concern with the filtration of fluids in both
organs.
Chiller et al. (1968) found, using the Jerne method, that the denionstration of antibody formation by rainbow trout cells was dependent
on isologous complement or that of closely related species, and, in their
case, incubation within a range of temperature between 4' and 20°C.
Sephadex G-200 fractionation showed that plaque activating complement
occurred in a different fraction from the natural hemolytic activity of
trout serum, a point as yet unexplained. Two types of active cells were
observed. The first, forming small plaques, appeared in the anterior
kidney and then in the spleen. The second, forming large plaques, appeared in the same sequence, but occurred later during immunization.
The largest number of active cells appeared in the spleen.
The above two papers have great significance not only to the study
of fish complement but also because of their potential value in bringing
the relatively simple and effective Jerne method to bear on problems
concerned with the evolution of the cellular basis of antibody production
in fish. A final point to note is that the differences observed relative
to incubation temperatures for the two species reported above further
confirm that different species have different temperature optimuins of
immunological activity (Cushing, 1945; Gewurz et al., 1966; and espccially Ridgway et al., 1966).
V. BLOOD GROUPS
Blood group polymorphism has been found in all species of vertebrates so far investigated and some of the antigens involved, notably