Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Council
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
LYMPHOCYTE HETEROGENEITY IN
TELEOSTS AND REPTILES
By
Marvin Agusta Cuchens
August 1977
Chairman: Dr. William L. Clem
Major Department: Immunology and Medical Microbiology
The purpose of this research was to study the characteristics
of the lymphoid cells from two ectotherms, the bluegill, a repre
sentative teleost, and the Florida alligator, a representative
reptile. The questions approached were 1) whether or not these
animals possessed a heterogeneity of lymphocytes akin to T- and B-
cells of higher animals, 2) whether a cellular basis for the effects
of temperature on the immune response of ectotherms could be ob
tained, and 3) whether there are membrane-associated immunoglobulins
in fish.
Hypaque-Ficoll centrifugation was used as a separation technique
for the isolation of lymphocytes. In vitro mitogenic studies of iso
lated lymphocytes from each species established that homologous serum
was the most satisfactory medium supplement. Bluegill studies demon
strated that the health or physiological state of laboratory maintained
fish appeared to be important in obtaining low background levels of DNA
synthesis. Variables found to be important in alligator lymphocyte
studies were the NaCl concentration in the medium and the age of the
serum donor.
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