| Abstract: | A study of the development of hemopoiesis in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) was conducted in order to determine the temporal sequence, the organs involved and the cytology of blood cell formation in this species. Hemopoiesis in the intrauterine life of the gerbil can be divided into four phases based on the site of blood cell formation: (1) the vitelline phase, (2) the hepatic phase, including thymic histogenesis, (3) the splenic phase and (4) the medullary phase, with the development of secondary lymphoid tissues. At the onset of each of these phases a blast-like cell was identifiable in each hemopoietic organ which, because of its morphology and its presumed multipotentiality was classified as a "lymphoid cell". In the yolk sac phase (gestational day 12) two generations of erythrocytes, a primitive and a definitive, are formed. The liver is by day 15 erythropoietic and megakaryopoietic, but later, a few granulocytes are also found in its extravascular compartment. The thymus is exclusively lymphopoietic from the appearance of its earliest cells on day 15. Splenic hemopoiesis is initiated with the presence of lymphoid cells (day 20) followed later by the appearance of morphologically identifiable blood cell lines. Early normoblastic and granulocytic activity begins in the marrow cavities on day 23, though the marrow is not considered to be a source of circulating blood cells during fetal life. Lymph node histogenesis occurs during the last four days of gestation, first in the cervical region and then in other parts of the body. The finding of undifferentiated lymphoid cells in all organs at the initiation of hemopoiesis and in the peripheral blood throughout gestation is discussed in light of the migratory theory of hemopoiesis. |
