ZIRC Submission Guidelines

Thank you for your interest in making a new resource available to the research community by submitting a fish strain(s) to the Zebrafish International Resource Center. Please review our criteria, requirements, and instructions for submitting your strain. Importation of a strain to the ZIRC consists of multiple steps (see Submission Instructions), and it may take several weeks before you can ship your strain to the Resource Center, and several months until your line is fully established at the ZIRC.

Due to the large number of strains being submitted to the Resource Center, we have set a priority of acceptance for each line. Please review carefully our criteria and requirements for line submission to the ZIRC.

Criteria for Strain Approval

  1. Line relevance for current or anticipated future research. Scientific significance of each line if multiple alleles per locus are submitted or already exist at ZIRC
  2. Availability of information about submitted lines (i.e. published information and/or information provided to the ZIRC)
  3. Availability of genotypic/phenotypic identification procedures (please note that lines requiring specialized identification protocols, that cannot be reproduced at the ZIRC, may not be accepted or be accepted and maintained as cryopreserved samples only)
  4. Ability to maintain a strain(s) until it is fully established in the Resource Center

Requirements for Line Submission

  1. For submission of 50 lines or fewer, the strains are provided to the Resource Center as adult fish only (the ZIRC does not accept embryos). For bio-security purposes, healthy, breed-able, identified adult male carriers (at least 10 no older than 9 months of age are required for sperm cryopreservation. This ensures a speedy importation process and allows us to establish your strain(s) in the most efficient manner. Please consider that by accepting fish strains, the Resource Center provides a direct service to you by maintaining the strains and/or distributing them to the community.
  2. For submissions of more than 50 lines, the ZIRC would prefer to import these lines as frozen sperm. Please see Importation Procedures and Cost Estimates for more information.
  3. You agree to maintain your strain until it is fully established at the ZIRC and listed as available on the ZIRC website.
  4. All mutant, transgenic, and wild-type lines must have a ZFIN record and approved nomenclature. Please contact ZFIN at nomenclature_coordinators@zfin.org for nomenclature assistance.
  5. The submitter is responsible for all costs associated with preparing and shipping fish strains to the ZIRC. Please note that these costs should be included when requesting funding from the NIH or other funding agencies. For your convenience, please see Importation Procedures and Cost Estimates for more information.

Submission Instructions

  1. Upon downloading and opening the ZIRC Submission Form (Excel Spreadsheet), please select the appropriate tabs at the bottom of the form and complete these pages and fields as thoroughly as possible. It is particularly helpful to give as much detailed information as possible about husbandry requirements and how mutants or transgenics can be identified. Please be very precise when you describe phenotypes/genotypes. Insufficient information may result in a poor priority rating of the strain(s) you want to submit!
  2. After you have completed the submission form, email the form to submissions@zebrafish.org. You will receive confirmation that your submission information has been received by the ZIRC. If additional information or clarification of information is required, you will be contacted within 2-3 weeks.
  3. After all of the information is received, your submission will be sent to our External Review Board. The External Review Board is composed of 3 or more scientists with extensive and varied expertise in many areas of biomedical research. The review committee determines which lines ZIRC should import on a case-by-case basis. Estimated review time is 4-8 weeks. Note that it is rare that a line is not accepted for import.
  4. After the review process is complete, you will receive a letter via email detailing whether or not your strain(s) have been approved for importation. If a line(s) is not approved, our reasons for rejection will be explained and you will be informed about the possibility of submitting the line at a later time.
  5. Upon acceptance, information about the shipping or import process will be provided to you in the acceptance letter. Due to the high volume of lines being submitted, shipping arrangements may take up to 4 months. Please do not send fish until you hear back from us! After sending fish, please continue to maintain your strain(s) until it is available on the ZIRC website or contact us at submissions@zebrafish.org for status information.
  6. License Agreement Information: If licensing (Zebrafish License Agreement PDF) of your strain(s) is necessary, the Innovation Partnership Service Office at the University of Oregon will contact the OTT/Patenting/Intellectual Property Office at your institution to complete the agreement. ZIRC tracks all MTAs for lines distributed, however, this information is confidential and cannot be redistributed.
  7. Questions and comments can be directed to us via our online form.

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