Small circular DNAs ranging in contour length from 0.06 to 3.5 ;&m have been isolated from bursas of 19.day chicken embryos and 4-to 5-week-old chickens. Small (4), and human warts (5). At present, the most extensive information regarding purified spcDNA relates to the material derived from HeLa (1), Drosophila (4), and BSC-1 (3) cells. Specifically, HeLa spcDNA appears to be predominantly cytoplasmic, present at a level of about 100400 circles per exponentially growing cell, of greater molecular complexity than its average molecular weight, and derived from chromosomal DNA; Drosophila spcDNA appears to be predominantly nuclear, present at a level of about 3-40 circles per cell, and composed of molecules with different sensitivities to restriction endonuclease digestion; BSC-1 spcDNA appears to be present at a level of about 1000-2000 circles per cell, resolvable into relatively distinct size classes by gel electrophoresis, of a greater molecular complexity (in the range of 1 X 108) than its average molecular weight (5 X 105) and derived, at least in part, from chromosomal DNA. It should be noted that no biological function has been assigned to any of these spcDNAs.In this communication we report the isolation and characterization of covalently closed (form I) small circular DNAs from the developing chicken bursa, an organ known to contain large numbers of B lymphocytes undergoing development to a committed state for the production of particular antibodies; in brief, small circular DNAs derived from the bursas of embryonic (19-day) and 4-to 5-week-old chickens differed markedly in both quantity and size distribution. It is proposed that these molecules may represent products of immunoglobulin gene rearrangements, which are known to occur during development of B cells (6)(7)(8) at 19 days (2 days before hatching), and livers and bursas were removed, frozen on dry ice, and stored at -20'C until use. Four-to 5-week-old chickens (White Leghorns, H and N strain, obtained from Truslow) were sacrificed, and organs were removed and frozen in the same way. In general, 200 embryos yielded 100 g of liver and 7 g of bursa, while 7-10 chickens, 4-5 weeks old, yielded 50 g of liver and 10 g of bursa. To prepare small circular DNA from these tissues, 5-10 g of bursa or 30-40 g of liver was thawed on ice, minced into cold (40C) 0.15 M EDTA at pH 8.0 (8 ml/g of tissue), and homogenized with two strokes of a Kontes Duall 25 homogenizer. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaDodSO4), 10% wt/vol, was then added to a final concentration of 0.5% and the preparation was titrated to pH 12.10 with 1.25 M NaOH, incubated for 10 min at room temperature, and neutralized with 6 M HCl to pH 7.8, a procedure known to selectively denature linear and noncovalently closed (form II) circular DNAs (9). This lysate was then extracted with 1/2 vol of redistilled phenol (equilibrated with 0.15 M EDTA), and nucleic acids in the aqueous phase were precipitated overnight at -20'C by the addition of 2 vol of cold 100% ethanol. After centrifugation and et...