Construction of an Affordable and Easy-to-Build Zebrafish Facility

Paige, Candler; Hill, Bailey; Canterbury, Joseph; Sweitzer, Sarah M.; Romero‐Sandoval, E. Alfonso

doi:10.3791/51989

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Wild-type (WT) TAB strain adult zebrafish of mixed sex were obtained from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research (Sydney, Australia) and used as parents to produce experimental fish. Adult fish were housed in clear plastic tanks (350 × 200 × 260 mm) within a custom-built zebrafish recirculating system [ 23 ]. Tanks were maintained at 28.5 °C unless otherwise specified, which was monitored using temperature data loggers (Hobo MX2201, OneTemp, Australia).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA methyltransferase 3a mediates developmental thermal plasticity

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Thermal plasticity is pivotal for evolution in changing climates and in mediating resilience to its potentially negative effects. The efficacy to respond to environmental change depends on underlying mechanisms. DNA methylation induced by DNA methyltransferase 3 enzymes in the germline or during early embryonic development may be correlated with responses to environmental change. This developmental plasticity can interact with reversible acclimation within adult organisms, which would increase the speed of response and could alleviate potential mismatches between parental or early embryonic environments and those experienced at later life stages. Our aim was to determine whether there is a causative relationship between DNMT3 enzyme and developmental thermal plasticity and whether either or both interact with short-term acclimation to alter fitness and thermal responses in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Results We developed a novel DNMT3a knock-out model to show that sequential knock-out of DNA methyltransferase 3a isoforms (DNMT3aa−/− and DNMT3aa−/−ab−/−) additively decreased survival and increased deformities when cold developmental temperatures in zebrafish offspring mismatched warm temperatures experienced by parents. Interestingly, short-term cold acclimation of parents before breeding rescued DNMT3a knock-out offspring by restoring survival at cold temperatures. DNMT3a knock-out genotype interacted with developmental temperatures to modify thermal performance curves in offspring, where at least one DNMT3a isoform was necessary to buffer locomotion from increasing temperatures. The thermal sensitivity of citrate synthase activity, an indicator of mitochondrial density, was less severely affected by DNMT3a knock-out, but there was nonetheless a significant interaction between genotype and developmental temperatures. Conclusions Our results show that DNMT3a regulates developmental thermal plasticity and that the phenotypic effects of different DNMT3a isoforms are additive. However, DNMT3a interacts with other mechanisms, such as histone (de)acetylation, induced during short-term acclimation to buffer phenotypes from environmental change. Interactions between these mechanisms make phenotypic compensation for climate change more efficient and make it less likely that thermal plasticity incurs a cost resulting from environmental mismatches.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA methyltransferase 3a mediates developmental thermal plasticity

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such model organisms allow for drug safety tests at an organism level and are potentially more relevant and less resource consuming 97,98 . The maintenance of zebrafish for drug screening is relatively more cost‐effective than the use of expensive fetal bovine serum required for cell culture–based alternative models, and which is commonly extracted via cardiac puncture from bovine fetuses performed without anesthesia 99‐102 . Therefore, in the process of replacing animals for drug safety, we may inadvertently increase the demand for cardiac punctures on bovine fetuses to extract fetal bovine serum.…”

Section: Implications Of Animal Model Alternatives For Developing Nat...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Blind men and an elephant”: The need for animals in research, drug safety studies, and understanding civilizational diseases

Anbalagan

2023

Anim Models and Exp Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal‐based research and drug safety studies are essential to understanding the mysteries of nature and the long‐term survival of humans. Due to the rapid increase in the global human population, conflict‐ and economically driven human migration, tourism‐related activities, densely populated metropolitan areas, and local policies, humans will be affected by a multitude of novel disease‐causing microorganisms and civilizational diseases. Despite disparities among countries, recent and planned changes in regulations concerning animal research and drug safety studies could have detrimental effects on both the animal research community and nations lacking sufficient social support systems. Based on existing scientific literature, I argue that we need animal research encompassing aspects such as animal development, behavior, drug safety studies, and for the understanding of future civilizational diseases. Depending on the nature of the research questions and local challenges, a suitable animal model organism should be made mandatory.

show abstract

“…If water parameters, such as alkalinity, hardness, and pH are not monitored and corrected as needed, filter efficiencies will fluctuate over time. Examples of recirculating systems are the open-design solutions proposed by Burg et al [39], Paige et al [40], and Nema and Bhargava [41,42].…”

Section: Designed Culture Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rearing Conditions and Automated Feed Distribution Systems for Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a well-established animal model, used in a number of research areas. In the last decade, it has also emerged as a tool to evaluate the effects of diets and dietary components and to test novel paradigms in nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics, and nutritional physiology. Despite its worldwide use, the standardization of the zebrafish rearing conditions, including daily nutritional and good feed management practices, is not yet achieved. This is surprising when compared with what is available for other reared animals, such as rodents or other (e.g., commercial) fishes. To date, a major applicative goal in zebrafish nutritional physiology research is to define common, standard, and reproducible protocols of rearing and feeding conditions to generate reliable and comparable results among research laboratories. This review aims to focus on limitations and disadvantages of the current rearing and feeding practices and on some recent technological solutions provided by research groups and/or biotech companies in the field of facility design, with emphasis on automated feeding distribution systems. A general overview of some common schemes of zebrafish husbandry is also given.

show abstract

Construction of an Affordable and Easy-to-Build Zebrafish Facility

Cited by 11 publications

References 6 publications

DNA methyltransferase 3a mediates developmental thermal plasticity

DNA methyltransferase 3a mediates developmental thermal plasticity

“Blind men and an elephant”: The need for animals in research, drug safety studies, and understanding civilizational diseases

Rearing Conditions and Automated Feed Distribution Systems for Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About