[Zbrafish] Boy problems....

[Daniel Castranova]

Becky,

One possibility is poor genetic health (lack of out-crossing).  When  
we used the SJD mapping line, the only way that we could get embryos  
was by doing IVF.  If I set them up naturally they would spawn, but  
we would get very poor fertilization.  You may want to try IVF and  
see if the males have sperm and they are just not releasing it, or if  
they are dried up.  This answer may explain why results aren't better  
in the next generation, and why there is line to line variability.

Just one possibility.

good luck.

Dan



Daniel Castranova
Aquatic Specialist
Charles River Laboratories - Contractor
Unit on Vertebrate Organogenesis
Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, NICHD, NIH
Building 6B, Room 322, 6 Center Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892
(301)594-0904
castrand from mail.nih.gov


On Apr 29, 2008, at 10:37 AM, Burdine, Rebecca D wrote:

>
> Hi everyone,
>
> We have had an interesting problem that I am hoping people might have
> some insight on.
>
> Whether we setup fish in batch breeding inserts or in individual  
> tanks,
> we get a lot of infertility.  The eggs themselves look great, they  
> have
> good color, clearly undergo cytoplasmic transport, but they aren't
> fertilized.
>
> Our females will sometime slay clutches of up to 200 eggs which  
> 80-100%
> may be unfertilized.
>
> This does vary a bit strain to strain (Tu is the worst, our  
> homemade PWT
> strain has the least issues).  I thought maybe something happened  
> in the
> last generation of males as they grew up, but we are seeing this in  
> the
> newest generation too (fish are 6 months to 1 year of age).  We are
> seeing it in strains throughout the facility.
>
> My assumption is that the males aren't doing their job even though  
> they
> look extremely healthy.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas?
>
> (Hopefully this won't come down to the lack of foot baths. 8)
>
> Thanks,
> Becky
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Rebecca D. Burdine, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor
> Dept. of Molecular Biology
> Princeton University
> Washington Road Mof 433
> Princeton, NJ 08544
>
> Phone: (609) 258-7515
> Fax: (609) 258-1343
> Email: rburdine from princeton.edu
> Admin Assistant: Cathy Falk (609) 258-1604
>
>
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