We (1) have previously demonstrated that B lymphocytes from neonatal or late fetal mice produced an immune response which was highly restricted with respect to heterogeneity of avidity of the plaque-forming cells (PFC) 1 as compared with the PFC response produced by B lymphocytes from adult donors. These studies were carried out by transferring the lymphoid population to be tested, together with excess adult thymus cells, into lethally irradiated, syngeneic mice. Under these conditions the functional capacity of the B lymphocytes from immature animals could be assayed in an adult environment in the presence of excess adult T lymphocytes. Thus, the restricted heterogeneity of the immune response observed with B lymphocytes from neonatal or 17-day fetal donors could be ascribed to a functional immaturity of the B lymphocyte itself. When evaluated in this system, it was found that B lymphocytes acquire adult functional capabilities between 7 and 10 days of age in LAF1 mice. Our studies described above (1), together with work from a number of other laboratories (2-17), have thus demonstrated an ordered development of various functional and morphological characteristics of the immune system. It was suggested (1) that the temporally abrupt maturation of the competence of B lymphocytes to generate an adult-type, heterogeneous, immune response implied a differentiation event rather than the accumulation of somatic mutations. If this hypothesis were correct, then the B-cell population present in a neonatal animal should have the genetic information required to synthesize the same heterogeneous population of antibody molecules as the adult is capable of producing. This prediction was tested in the present paper by determining whether neonatal or fetal B lymphocytes could be induced, in the transfer system described above, to produce a heterogeneous antibody response if given
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