Information for scientists and other professionals
Here you will find detailed information on our fish-lines, housing conditions, biosafety and more.
If you have any further questions or would like to obtain a copy of our SOPs please contact zebrafish-office@km.ki.se
Available zebrafish lines
The following lines are available to all users of the zebrafish core facility. No permit is required. The facility houses approximately 200 additional genetically modified strains which may be available upon request.
AB
Wildtype line. The AB line is derived from two lines, A and B, purchased by Streisinger at different times from a pet shop in Albany, Oregon. The original A and B lines probably originated from a hatchery in Florida. Haploid offspring from individual females of the AB line were screened for healthy, good-looking embryos, and those females were used to make future generations by crossing them to unselected males. The AB line was maintained in this manner by the Oregon labs from the 1970's to the 1990's. This procedure reduced the number of lethal mutations so that this line can be used for parthenogenesis.
TL
Wildype line. Homozygous for leot1 and lofdt2. Obtained from a dealer and kept by raising mixed eggs from different egg lays of well-laying females. leot1 is a recessive mutation causing spotting in adult fish, also known as tup. lofdt2 is a dominant homozygous viable mutation causing long fins. This is not the line used in the Sanger zebrafish sequencing project.
Casper
Zebrafish strain without pigments. Published in PMID: 18371439
Tg(fli1a:EGFP)
Zebrafish line in which endothelial cells (blood vessels) are labelled in GFP. Published in PMID: 12167406
Tg(cmlc2:EGFP)
Zebrafish line in which cardiomyocytes are labelled in GFP. Published in PMID: 12950077
Tg(gata1:dsRed)
Zebrafish line in which erythrocytes are labelled in dsRed. Published in PMID: 14608381
Tg(mpeg1:gal4-UAS:NTR-mCherry) (zebrafish line in which macrophages can be depleted):
Zebrafish line in which macrophages are labelled with mCherry. Macrophages can specifically be depleted with MTZ. Published in PMID: 32764590
Tg(mpeg1:gal4-UAS:NTR-mCherry) x Tg(mpo:GFP)
Zebrafish line in which macrophages are labelled with mCherry and neutrophils are labelled with GFP. Macrophages can specifically be depleted with MTZ. Published in PMID: 32764590
Tg(mpo:GFP) (zebrafish line expressing GFP in neutrophils)
Zebrafish line in which neutrophils are labelled with GFP.
Tg(UAS:GFP;collagen2:mCherry)
Zebrafish line which constitutively expresses mCherry in the brain and spinal cord; additional expression of GFP when crossed with a line actively expressing Gal4. For screening of Gal4 driver lines.
General housing conditions
Lightning
All animal rooms are equipped with an automatic lightning system which is adjusted to 14 hours light and 10 hours dark. Sunrise and Sunset are mimicked by gradually increasing/decreasing the light over a 20 min period.
Physical and chemical water parameters
Temperature 28.0 °C
Conductivity 1200 µS/cm
pH 7.5
NH4+/NH3 <0,05 mg/l
NO2 0,025 mg/l
NO3 0,5-1 mg/l
PO4 1,2 mg/l
O2 10 mg/l
Cu <0,05 mg/l
GH 5 dGH
KH 2 dGH
The pH is adjusted with Sodium bicarbonate, the conductivity with sea salt (ReefBase, Tropical). GH and KH are adjusted with autoclaved oyster shells. Temperature, conductivity and pH are monitored continuously, chemical parameters measured at least monthly.
Housing conditions
All animals are housed in 3.5-liter tanks in a recirculatory system (Tecniplast). The stocking density is ca 5 fish per liter with mixed-sex groups. The minimal group size is 10 fish, and tattooed playmates are added to reach the minimal group size if needed. All tanks are sitting on gravel images and structural enrichment is added to the tanks. Embryos for rearing are kept in an incubator at 28.5 °C with light cycle.
Quarantine procedure
Embryos are imported. All imports are housed in a specific flow-through unit in a physically separated quarantine unit. At ca 14 dpf, a subset of the imported animals is submitted for health monitoring. When the result is cleared by the veterinarian, the animals are moved into a stand-alone system in the quarantine unit and raised to adult hood. The animals are bred, and surface-disinfected offspring is transferred to the main fishroom.
Feeding
Larvae between 4 dpf and 9 dpf are kept in polyculture.
Larvae > 9 dpf are fed 3 times per day dryfood (Zebrafeed, 100-200 micron) plus 1 time per day rotifers. Dryfeed is fed by the Tritone feeding robot.
Juveniles are fed 3 times per day dryfood (Zebrafeed, 200-400 micron) plus 1 time per day rotifers. Dryfeed is fed by the Tritone feeding robot.
Adults are fed 2 times per day dryfood (Zebrafeed, 400-600 microns mixed 1:1 with O-range Grow) plus 1 time per day rotifers.
Rotifer culture
Rotifers are kept in continuous culture at a concentration of ca 0.5x 106 rotifers per liter. The culture I fed with Rotigrow plus using an automatic feeding pump. The culture is submitted for health monitoring once a quarter.
Health monitoring
The zebrafish core facility follows the FELASA guidelines for health monitoring. The latest health monitoring protocol is available on request.