The zebrafish, Danio rerio, has become a major model organism used in biomedical studies. The widespread use of Danio rerio in research laboratories requires a comprehensive understanding of the husbandry of this species to ensure efficient propagation and maintenance of healthy and genetically diverse colonies. Breeding is a key element in zebrafish husbandry. It is a complex process influence...

OBJECTIVE Loss of function mutations in PINK1 typically lead to early onset Parkinson disease (PD). Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are emerging as a powerful new vertebrate model to study neurodegenerative diseases. We used a pink1 mutant (pink(-/-) ) zebrafish line with a premature stop mutation (Y431*) in the PINK1 kinase domain to identify molecular mechanisms leading to mitochondrial dysfunction a...

An evaluation was made of the quality of samples of water and sediment collected from a series of reservoirs in the Tietê River (SP), based on limnological and ecotoxicological analyses. The samples were collected during two periods (Feb and Jul 2000) from 15 sampling stations. Acute toxicity bioassays were performed using the test organism Daphnia similis, while chronic bioassays were carried ...

Isocyanide is a potential antifouling compound in marine environments. In this study, we investigated its mode of action in three aquatic organisms. Two of them, the bryozoan Bugula neritina and the barnacle Balanus amphitrite, are major marine fouling invertebrates, and the other organism is the non-target species zebrafish Danio rerio. In the swimming larvae of B. neritina, isocyanide did not...

The Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, is a unique model system consisting of cave-adapted and surface-dwelling morphotypes that diverged >1 million years (My) ago. This remarkable natural experiment has enabled powerful genetic analyses of cave adaptation. Here, we describe the application of next-generation sequencing technology to the creation of a high-density linkage map. Our map comprises...

The blind Mexican cave tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, is a unique model system for the study of parallelism and the evolution of cave-adapted traits. Understanding the genetic basis for these traits has recently become feasible thanks to production of a genome-wide linkage map and quantitative trait association analyses. The selection of suitable candidate genes controlling quantitative traits rema...

The lateral line system of amphibians and fish comprises a large number of individual mechanosensory organs, the neuromasts, and their sensory neurons. The pattern of neuromasts varies markedly between species, yet the embryonic pattern is highly conserved from the relatively basal zebrafish, Danio rerio, to more derived species. Here we examine in more detail the development of the posterior l...

The effect of dietary Echinacea purpurea (EP) on the response of zebrafish (Danio rerio) to a Flavobacterium columnare vaccine was investigated. Two hundred D. rerio with an average weight of 290 ± 40 g were selected and fed different levels of E. purpurea (5 g kg(-1) diet--group 1, 10 g kg(-1) diet--group 2, 20 g kg(-1) diet--group 3, 30 g kg(-1) diet--group 4, and 0 g kg(-1) diet--group 5). E...