Nucleoli in the cells of the erythrocyte and granulocyte series in the albino rat.

Abstract

In albino rats, as in other mammals, nucleoli with nucleolonemata and compact nucleoli in the stem cells of the erythrocyte and granulocyte series are progressively replaced during maturation and differentiation first by ring shaped nucleoli and then by micronucleoli with low and finally with inhibited RNA synthesis. There are, however, differences between the nucleolar coefficient values and the proportion of ring shaped nucleoli and micronucleoli in maturing neutrophils in the albino rat, the mouse and man. In the case of the erythroblasts, the differences between the proportion of various nucleolar types in the three given species are smaller. The results thus indicate that the developmental trend of nucleolar changes related to cell maturation and differentiation is the same, but that there are interspecies differences because of which the results obtained in one species cannot be applied mechanically to another, i.e. results obtained in a laboratory animal cannot be applied automatically to man.