Is the zebrafish genome fully sequenced?
Although the zebrafish reference genome sequencing is complete, a few poorly assembled regions remain, which are being resolved by the Genome Reference Consortium (http://genomereference.org).
What are the disadvantages of using zebrafish for research?
Disadvantages: They require water systems to maintain them. They are not mammals and are not as closely related to humans as a mouse is. Reverse genetics has not been worked out for zebrafish as it has in the mouse.
Can zebrafish regenerate?
Adult zebrafish are able to regenerate different organs, including all fins (32), the spinal cord (33), the retina (34), the heart (35), the telencephalon (36), and the kidney (37). Interestingly, the mechanisms that control regeneration seem to be organ-specific.
What is so special about zebra fish?
As a vertebrate, the zebrafish has the same major organs and tissues as humans. Their muscle, blood, kidney and eyes share many features with human systems. Zebrafish have the unique ability to repair heart muscle. For example, if part of their heart is removed they can grow it back in a matter of weeks.
Is zebrafish diploid?
As the teleost specific whole genome duplication was followed by gene (sub-) functionalisation and genome reduction, zebrafish are considered to be diploid animals, setting them apart from tetraploid cyprinids [26].
What’s so special about zebrafish?
Why do scientists use zebrafish?
In addition to utilizing zebrafish disease models to characterize human diseases, researchers can also identify and test new drugs to treat the diseases being modeled. The ability of zebrafish to generate many embryos every time they breed makes them especially useful for high throughput drug screening.
Why are zebrafish used in genetic research?
Because of its fully sequenced genome, easy genetic manipulation, high fecundity, external fertilization and rapid development, and nearly transparent embryo, zebrafish are a unique model animal for biomedical research, including studies of biological processes and human diseases.
Can zebrafish regenerate cells on command?
The zebrafish is a master of regeneration: If brain cells are lost due to injury or disease, it can simply reproduce them — contrary to humans where this only happens in the fetal stage. However, the zebrafish is evolutionarily related to humans and, thus, possesses the same brain cell types as humans.
What are zebrafish embryos used for?
Zebrafish embryos are nearly transparent which allows researchers to easily examine the development of internal structures.
Why do we use zebrafish in research?
How are zebrafish embryos fertilized?
Zebrafish eggs are fertilized externally, permitting access to the zygote from the onset of fertilization3. Further, the early embryo is optically transparent, enabling visualization of development with a simple stereomicroscope3.
Why do zebrafish have so many duplicated genes?
The notable excess observed in zebrafish may be a consequence of the WGD, because pairs of duplicated genes that arose from the WGD, but with no orthologue in amniotes, are counted as two specific genes.
What is the taxonomic classification of a zebrafish?
Zebrafish are members of the teleostei infraclass, a monophyletic group that is thought to have arisen approximately 340 million years ago from a common ancestor 11. Compared to other vertebrate species, this ancestor underwent an additional round of whole-genome duplication (WGD) called the teleost-specific genome duplication (TSD) 12.
What can we learn from zebrafish genome sequencing?
Zebrafish turns out to have the largest gene set of any vertebrate so far sequenced, and few pseudogenes. Importantly for disease studies, comparison between human and zebrafish sequences reveals that 70% of human genes have at least one obvious zebrafish orthologue.
What is a large-scale zebrafish gene knockout resource?
A large-scale zebrafish gene knockout resource for the genome-wide study of gene function. Genome Res. 23, 727–735 (2013) Freeman, J. L. et al. Definition of the zebrafish genome using flow cytometry and cytogenetic mapping.