Working with zebrafish at postembryonic stages

Abstract

As the processes of embryogenesis become increasingly well understood, there is growing interest in the development that occurs at later, postembryonic stages. Postembryonic development holds tremendous potential for discoveries of both fundamental and translational importance. Zebrafish, which are small, rapidly and externally developing, and which boast a wealth of genetic resources, are an outstanding model of vertebrate post-embryonic development. Nonetheless, there are specific challenges posed by working with zebrafish at these stages, and this chapter is meant to serve as a primer for those working with larval and juvenile zebrafish. Since accurate staging is critical for high-quality results and experimental reproducibility, we outline best practices for reporting postembryonic developmental progress. Emphasizing the importance of accurate staging, we present new data showing that rates of growth and size–stage relationships can differ even between wild-type strains. Finally, since rapid and uniform development is particularly critical when working at postembryonic stages, we briefly describe methods that we use to achieve high rates of growth and developmental uniformity through postembryonic stages in both wild-type and growth-compromised zebrafish.

A classification system for zebrafish adipose tissues

“…5F,H). In accord with McMenamin et al (2016), WIKs attained developmental stages at slightly smaller SL than either WT/WA or EKW strains (Table 1). However, the timing of AT appearance in WIKs was highly consistent with EKW (Table 2 and ).…”

Staging and normal table of postembryonic development of the clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)

“…All the quantitative criteria measured were correlated with both age and standard length, and as is the case for other teleost fish species, including Zebrafish ( D. rerio ) and tilapia ( Oreochromis mossambicus ), standard length is a better proxy than absolute age to describe developmental progression . In other species of Pomacentridae, studies have highlighted the high correlation between quantitative traits and the length of larval A. frenatus and A. perideraion (with a regression coefficients between 0.95 and 0.99), which has also been observed in A. ocellaris in this study.…”

“…Even if SL is a better proxy to follow the larval development of A. ocellaris, there is likely some variability in developmental progress even within a given SL category; this has been observed in Zebrafish . Indeed, Parichy et al observed that for a given size, larvae may not be at the same developmental stage.…”

“…Staging tables are valuable and widespread tools for standardizing development, and embryonic staging tables are available for model organisms including the Zebrafish Danio rerio and the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis . Stage identification and standardization are particularly important, since heterogeneity between individuals means that time alone is a limited measure of developmental state . Larval development depends on both genetic and environmental factors such as temperature, photoperiod, food availability, and fish density .…”

MicroCT-Based Phenomics in the Zebrafish Skeleton Reveals Virtues of Deep Phenotyping in a Distributed Organ System

“…In zebrafish, developmental progress is more closely related to standard length than to age (Parichy et al, 2009;McMenamin et al, 2016). In analyzing mutants that exhibit differences in body size (e.g., plod2 -/-mutants exhibited severely diminished body size compared to WT siblings), it is difficult to discriminate to what degree altered phenotypes are attributable to differences in developmental progress, versus specific effects on skeletal function.…”