Reptilian bone marrow. An ultrastructural study in the spanish lizard, Lacerta hispanica
A Zapata1, J Leceta1, A Villena1
1Departamento de Morfologia Microscópica, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 3, Spain.
Abstract:
The ultrastructure of hemopoietic bone marrow of the Spanish lizard, Lacerta hispanica, has been studied for the first time. The organ consists of a stroma formed by venous sinuses and reticular cells. Erythropoiesis takes place in the lumen of blood vessels, while granulopoiesis is extravascular. Pluripotent stem cells are structurally differentiated into erythrocytes and granulocytes. Two types of granulocytes, heterophils and acidophils, have been found, and a third granular cell type is tentatively identified as granular leukocyte. Remarkably, plasmacytopoiesis occurs in the bone marrow of Lacerta hispanica. The possible functional significance of these results is discussed with emphasis on their importance for the reptilian immune system.
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