Surface immunoglobulin characteristics of B-lymphocyte developmental states and B-lymphocyte colony-forming cells.

B-lymphocyte colony-forming cells and various B-lymphocyte developmental states were examined for expression of surface immunoglobulin. B-lymphocyte colony-forming-cells appeared to possess a significantly greater amount of surface immunoglobulin than did newborn 'virgin' B lymphocytes. In terms of surface immunoglobulin content and physical property characteristics (established previously) B-lymphocyte colony-forming cells resembled a more mature B-lymphocyte subset. This subset, as characterized in previous studies, consists of mature virgin B cells that develop from the newborn virgin B cells via a process of nonspecific antigen-induced differentiation. An alternative possibility that B-lymphocyte colony-forming cells are memory B lymphocytes has not been eliminated by this study.