Cardiovascular Research Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
PLoS Biol. 2019 Jun 20;17(6):e3000343. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000343. eCollection 2019 Jun.
The zebrafish Danio rerio is a powerful model system to study the genetics of development and disease. However, maintenance of zebrafish husbandry records is both time intensive and laborious, and a standardized way to manage and track the large amount of unique lines in a given laboratory or centralized facility has not been embraced by the field. Here, we present FishNET, an intuitive, open-source, relational database for managing data and information related to zebrafish husbandry and maintenance. By creating a "virtual facility," FishNET enables users to remotely inspect the rooms, racks, tanks, and lines within a given facility. Importantly, FishNET scales from one laboratory to an entire facility with several laboratories to multiple facilities, generating a cohesive laboratory and community-based platform. Automated data entry eliminates confusion regarding line nomenclature and streamlines maintenance of individual lines, while flexible query forms allow researchers to retrieve database records based on user-defined criteria. FishNET also links associated embryonic and adult biological samples with data, such as genotyping results or confocal images, to enable robust and efficient colony management and storage of laboratory information. A shared calendar function with email notifications and automated reminders for line turnover, automated tank counts, and census reports promote communication with both end users and administrators. The expected benefits of FishNET are improved vivaria efficiency, increased quality control for experimental numbers, and flexible data reporting and retrieval. FishNET's easy, intuitive record management and open-source, end-user-modifiable architecture provides an efficient solution to real-time zebrafish colony management for users throughout a facility and institution and, in some cases, across entire research hubs.
斑马鱼(Danio rerio)是研究发育和疾病遗传学的强大模型系统。然而,维持斑马鱼养殖记录既费时又费力,而且尚未有一种标准化的方法来管理和跟踪特定实验室或集中设施中大量独特的品系。在这里,我们介绍了 FishNET,这是一种用于管理与斑马鱼养殖和维护相关的数据和信息的直观、开源的关系型数据库。通过创建“虚拟设施”,FishNET 使用户能够远程检查给定设施内的房间、架子、水箱和品系。重要的是,FishNET 可以从一个实验室扩展到一个拥有多个实验室的整个设施,或者从多个设施扩展到一个拥有多个设施的社区,从而生成一个具有凝聚力的实验室和社区平台。自动化的数据录入消除了关于品系命名法的混淆,并简化了对单个品系的维护,而灵活的查询表单允许研究人员根据用户定义的标准检索数据库记录。FishNET 还将相关的胚胎和成年生物样本与数据(例如基因分型结果或共聚焦图像)相关联,以实现强大而高效的群体管理和实验室信息存储。带有电子邮件通知的共享日历功能以及用于品系更替、自动水箱计数和普查报告的自动提醒,促进了与最终用户和管理员的沟通。FishNET 的预期收益包括提高养殖场效率、提高实验数量的质量控制以及灵活的数据报告和检索。FishNET 易于使用、直观的记录管理和开源、可由最终用户修改的架构为整个设施和机构的用户提供了一个高效的实时斑马鱼群体管理解决方案,在某些情况下,甚至可以为整个研究中心提供解决方案。