Relationship between thymus ontogeny and DNA ligase expression in the chicken

DNA ligase expression was studied in the embryonic chicken thymus. As previously reported, during thymus ontogeny two separate and successive (8S and 6S) forms of enzyme are found. The switch from the heavy to the light form takes place at around 18 days of incubation in situ. The demonstration that two successive generations of thymic lymphoid precursor cells develop in the embryonic bird thymus and that the replacement of the first by the second thymocyte generation takes place at around 18 days suggested the possibility that each form of enzyme could be restricted to a given thymocyte generation. By either culturing or transplanting embryonic thymuses of different ages it appears that the switch from the heavy to the light form of DNA ligase is not related to a change over of the first by the second generation of embryonic thymocytes but rather to some maturation process of the thymic lymphocytes starting from 17 days of embryonic life. The influence of extrathymic factors on the turning on of the expression of the 6 S DNA ligase in the post-natal environment is also suggested.