ZIRC is supported by an NIH grant from the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP) in collaboration with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Research Emphasis/Objectives

• The Zebrafish International Resource Center is housed on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene. Its mission is to provide a central repository for wild-type and mutant strains of zebrafish (Danio rerio) and for materials and information about zebrafish research. Materials and zebrafish strains are distributed to the research community. Pathology services are provided for diseased fish. Standards and procedures for maintaining healthy strains of zebrafish are being developed and a manual, Diseases of Zebrafish in Research Facilities, for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases affecting zebrafish, is available.

Resources Provided

• Animals
• Healthy stocks of zebrafish and frozen sperm are maintained and distributed to the research community. Strains of wild-type fish and lines carrying mutations and transgenes are accepted from the research community, maintained, and distributed upon request. Researchers are welcome to visit the Resource Center to screen the collection for mutations of interest or to learn procedures.
• Animal Health
• Advice about zebrafish health is provided. Diseased fish and tissue samples may be sent to the Resource Center for pathology analysis. The Resource Center maintains Diseases of Zebrafish in Research Facilities that describes diseases of importance to laboratory zebrafish culture.
• Biological Materials
• Antibodies, gene probes, and other markers to analyze wild-type and mutant stocks are received, stored, and distributed.

Prices

• Nominal prices are charged for some of these materials and services.

Informatics

• ZIRC and ZFIN are sister organizations. ZIRC pages provide information about available resources and services, and they are extensively cross-linked to ZFIN. ZFIN is an on-line database of information about zebrafish genetics, genomics, and development. Information about the resources and services provided by the Resource Center are also available on the ZFIN site, as well as a listing of zebrafish researchers, laboratories, and publications. ZFIN integrates information about the genetic map being generated by the zebrafish genome initiative and provides links to related information about genes in other species-specific databases. Researchers can use ZFIN to register and submit to the nomenclature committee new names for mutant alleles and for genes identified by molecular cloning.

Acknowledging Materials and Services

• Please acknowledge the Zebrafish International Resource Center in all publications resulting from the materials and/or services we are providing to you. Thank you.

More Detailed Information

• View a summary of Resource Center activities.
• View the Resource Center ZFIN record.
• View a list of other stock centers.
• View Other Helpful Sites.