Different Wavelengths of Light Have No Effect on Zebrafish Fecundity

Abstract

Danio rerio (zebrafish) have rapidly gained popularity in the study of vertebrate development and gene function. Zebrafish are an excellent model for performing large-scale genetic and drug screens to be performed coupled with the visualization of downstream perturbations on live, developing organisms. Due to the fact that large numbers of embryos are required to perform these experiments, we investigated ways to efficiently increase zebrafish embryo production while not being overly invasive or using chemicals that might affect the developmental processes. To perform these experiments, we mated wild type (wt) zebrafish while exposing them to the different wavelengths of light. Fish were exposed to 12 h of dark, followed by 4 h with the different colored light treatments. Once this light cycle was over, embryo production was enumerated. Results indicated that exposing zebrafish to the different wavelengths of fluorescent and LED light had little effect on embryo production. Further research may elucidate other methods to increase embryo production to further studies of developmental processes, making zebrafish an even better model organism for studying a multitude of biological processes at a large-scale.