A new aquarium for the UCL Fish Facility

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The structures, forms and functions of the vertebrate body are largely established during the early stages of development and involve processes that are remarkably similar throughout the different vertebrate groups, from fish to mammals. Advances in molecular genetics have led to a dramatic expansion in our knowledge of how these fundamental developmental processes work and how conserved they are between vertebrate species. This expansion in our knowledge has been achieved largely by studying a limited number of model vertebrate organisms. The zebrafish is now one of the most widely used model systems in part because of its genetic tractability - the ability to define gene functions through genetic approaches including screens. In performing what is called a "forward genetic screen", mutations are randomly induced in genes throughout the genome and then screens identify which of these mutations affect the developmental process under study. This approach gives a relatively unbiased way to find the genes required for specific developmental processes. An alternative "reverse genetic" approach is to "knock-out" the activity of genes that might be involved in the process of interest, and relies on some prior notion of the likely function of the gene. Both 'forward' and 'reverse' genetic approaches are feasible in fish and are being used to study many aspects of development, organ function and neurobiology. Another major advantage of zebrafish is its optical transparency allowing investigations into cell movements, developing neuronal connections, as well as tracking neuronal activity in response to perceived stimuli in the living animal with no or only minimal intervention. This grant provides funds a new state of the art aquarium to maintain many distinct lines of fish used by many researchers at UCL and beyond. The new aquarium will enable fish to be maintained in an isolated, disease-free environment ensuring optimal rearing conditions, health and breeding performance from the adult fish. The new aquarium will support a wide range of research and animal welfare projects that use zebrafish as a model system. Several of the research teams that will use the aquarium study the processes by which the nervous system forms. Research ranges from study of the developmental mechanisms by which neurons are generated, acquire their identities and form connections to investigation of the resulting neural circuits that mediate behaviours. For instance, researchers are examining the neural networks underlying circadian rhythms and sleep, as well as visually guided behaviours such as hunting. Maybe surprisingly, even very young zebrafish fry exhibits social preference and so we can study this type of social behaviour. Advances in molecular, imaging and computational approaches allow us to study the neural basis of behavioural responses at cellular resolution and identify the specific neurons that are involved in receiving sensory information and those involved in eliciting behavioural responses. Other research teams are studying aspects of cell biology in living fish embryos including addressing how epithelia are formed and function and how cells behave as they migrate within the embryo. Many of the projects will be supported by the use of the genetic screens described above that help us to identify the key genes involved in the processes under study. We will also develop methods and approaches that help to reduce and refine the use of animals in research. For instance we aim to determine the gene defects carried by individual fish when they are embryos so that we only grow those fish we specifically need for experiments. We will also aim to improve animal husbandry and care procedures and assess how rearing conditions affect subsequent behaviours of the young fish.