Characterization of Variation in Growth Performance in Inbred Strains of Zebrafish (Danio Rerio)

Abstract

Although zebrafish have been a widely utilized model organism for several decades, there is little information available on physiological variation underlying genetic variation among the commonly used inbred strains. This study evaluated growth performance in response to fasting in six zebrafish strains [AB, TU, TL, SJA, WIK, and petstore (PET) zebrafish]. Fasting resulted in a decrease in whole blood glucose levels in PET, TL, and TU strains and did not affect glucose levels in AB, SJA, and WIK strains. Similarly, fasting had no effect on myostatin mRNA levels in AB, PET, TU, and WIK strains, but decreased myostatin-1 and -2 mRNA levels in SJA zebrafish. Fasting increased myostatin-2 mRNA levels in TL zebrafish. These data demonstrate that growth performance variation is present between commonly used zebrafish strains and can help future research endeavors by highlighting the attributes of each strain so that the most fitting strain may be utilized.