| |
bursa of Fabricius
an epithelial outgrowth of the cloaca in chick embryos, which develops in a manner similar to that of the thymus in mammals, atrophying after 5 or 6 months and persisting as a fibrous remnant in sexually mature birds. It contains lymphoid
follicles, and before involution is a site of formation of B-lymphocytes associated with humoral immunity .

Copyright 2007. An Elsevier publication. All rights reserved.
Click here for important legal information about Dorland's Medical Dictionary.
|