PRODUCTION OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES SPECIFIC FOR ANTIGENS DERIVED FROM TISSUE OF CHINOOK SALMON (ONCORHYNCHUS-TSHAWYTSCHA) AFFECTED WITH PLASMACYTOID LEUKEMIA

Two distinct monoclonal antibodies (MAB) were prepared for testing wit h kidney, spleen, and retrobular tissue imprints made from chinook sal mon (Oncorhynchus tshauytscha) affected with plasmacytoid leukemia. (P L). Hybridomas were prepared from mice immunized with whole and lysed cells purified from renal or retrobular PL-positive tissues, which had been obtained from naturally and experimentally infected fish from Br itish Columbia, Canada. The MAB reacted with at least 4 morphologicall y different cell types; fluorescence was associated with the plasma me mbrane and cytoplasm. The MAB also reacted with kidney imprints made f rom chinook salmon affected with a PL-like lymphoproliferative disease in California, indicating that these 2 diseases might be caused by a similar agent. The MAB did not react with any of the kidney or spleen imprints made from wild chinook salmon collected from a river in Ontar io, Canada.