| Abstract: | The cellular composition of individual hemopoietic spleen colonies has been studied using techniques which tested primarily for cell function rather than cell morphology. Erythroblastic cells were recognized by their capacity to incorporate radioiron, granulocytic cells by their content of peroxidase-positive material, and hemopoietic stem cells by their ability to form spleen colonies in irradiated hosts. It was found that, 14 days after the initiation of spleen colonies, the distribution of these cell types among individual colonies was very heterogeneous, but that most colonies contained detectable numbers of erythroblasts, granulocytes and colony-forming cells. An appreciable proportion of the cells in the colonies could not be identified as any of these three cell types. No strong correlations between numbers of erythroblasts, granulocytes and colony-forming cells in individual colonies were observed, though there was a tendency for colonies containing a high proportion of erythroblasts to contain a low proportion of granulocytes, and for colonies containing a high proportion of granulocytes to contain a higher proportion of colony-forming cells. An analysis of colonies which contained cells bearing radiation-induced chromosomal markers indicated that 83–98% of the dividing cells within 14-day spleen colonies were derived from single precursors. |
