C10: COLONY MANAGEMENT – DRIES KNAPEN
ZEBRAFISH STRAINS
Different lines of fish ~ same as strain
❖ 3 most common used strains: AB, TU and WIK
❖ The strains are not very well defined, there are many different zebrafish strains of for example ‘wild type
zebrafish’
o Other strains can be transgenic or selective breeding,…
AB line
❖ one of the most standard strain of zebrafish that is used in
research
❖ all the AB fish are not the same! Within a strain there are still
differences based on the breeding of these fish in the lab, the
fish start to diverse genetically
→very important to mention which strain you are using in your
research because the background genetics of the fish can have an
influence on your results
❖ The genetics of the lab strains are very different from the wild fish
→If you do a genetic analysis and comparing differences/similarities,
then the AB strains pop up multiple times meaning the AB strains are
different from each other even when it is considered the same strain
❖ There is a certain institute for maintaining zebrafish strains → the AB
strains here are monitored and controlled to keep the same genetic
profile
→ buying certified AB strains are very expensive, so better if you can breed it yourself, but be aware of not
losing the basic genetic background of the AB strain
❖ AB is a very old strain, there were a number of steps taken
→the current AB strain was defined in 1992
TU line
❖ based on a number of zebrafish pet shops and they were created to have a highly genetically variation strain
WIK line
❖ strain that is based on wild fish that were caught and used to breed with, this strain has literally started with
one male and one female fish → very different from the other strains
1
ZEBRAFISH STRAINS
Different lines of fish ~ same as strain
❖ 3 most common used strains: AB, TU and WIK
❖ The strains are not very well defined, there are many different zebrafish strains of for example ‘wild type
zebrafish’
o Other strains can be transgenic or selective breeding,…
AB line
❖ one of the most standard strain of zebrafish that is used in
research
❖ all the AB fish are not the same! Within a strain there are still
differences based on the breeding of these fish in the lab, the
fish start to diverse genetically
→very important to mention which strain you are using in your
research because the background genetics of the fish can have an
influence on your results
❖ The genetics of the lab strains are very different from the wild fish
→If you do a genetic analysis and comparing differences/similarities,
then the AB strains pop up multiple times meaning the AB strains are
different from each other even when it is considered the same strain
❖ There is a certain institute for maintaining zebrafish strains → the AB
strains here are monitored and controlled to keep the same genetic
profile
→ buying certified AB strains are very expensive, so better if you can breed it yourself, but be aware of not
losing the basic genetic background of the AB strain
❖ AB is a very old strain, there were a number of steps taken
→the current AB strain was defined in 1992
TU line
❖ based on a number of zebrafish pet shops and they were created to have a highly genetically variation strain
WIK line
❖ strain that is based on wild fish that were caught and used to breed with, this strain has literally started with
one male and one female fish → very different from the other strains
1
