Contaminant Effects on Zebrafish Embryos

Dear Colleagues,

In the past decades, the early-life stages of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become an important model system in biomedical research. Apart from being easy to culture and breed under laboratory conditions, zebrafish exhibit virtually transparent embryos and their genome has been systematically sequenced and annotated since 2001, making them valuable models in developmental and genetic research. These advantages have also made them a popular species in toxicological research, and the fish embryo toxicity test (FET) test has since replaced acute fish tests for whole-effluent testing in several countries globally. In fact, since fish embryos are believed to be non-sentient, the FET test is not considered an animal experiment in many legislations. With the adoption of an OECD FET test guideline for chemical testing (OECD 236) in 2013, it is expected that this test will soon be the gold standard for assessments of acute embryotoxicity and teratogenicity and might eventually replace acute fish tests altogether.

The most recent and innovative toxicological research using zebrafish embryos, however, goes far beyond these classical endpoints. In addition to ecotoxicogenomics, research on neurotoxic and behavioral effects has been facilitated by the availability of economic and user-friendly video tracking systems, and advances in mass-spectrometry have enabled single-embryo proteomic, metabolomic and bioaccumulation research. With the growing popularity of CRISPR/Cas9 for targeted genome editing, we can only speculate regarding the ground-breaking research we will witness in the upcoming decades.

For this Special Issue, we invite high-quality original research papers, short communications and reviews focussing on contaminant effects on zebrafish embryos. Studies may include, but are not limited to classical and modern endpoints, wild-type and genetically modified strains, studies related to environmental and human health impacts, research on single chemicals, mixtures and complex environmental samples. We welcome computational or predictive studies and meta-analyses.

Dr. Markus Brinkmann
Dr. Sabrina Schiwy
Guest Editors

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