Gabi Gerlach - MBL/MRC

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Zebrafish Research

I examine processes of olfactory imprinting in the zebrafish as model organism with well known genetic background. Zebrafish are excellent candidates because they imprint on olfactory cues of kin and use these for later preferences for shoaling with relatives and to avoid mating with relatives later in life. Imprinting occurs in a specific time window during the first 7 days of development. By using quantitative real time PCR we found several genes (e.g. MHC related genes) expressed differently in imprinted and non-imprinted animals. Currently, we use a new method of RNAi to knock down genes that appear to be involved in imprinting process. This is an exciting example of how the environment can affect gene expression.

Publications:

Gerlach, G. Pheromonal regulation of reproductive success in female zebrafish: male enhancement and female suppression. Animal Behaviour, in press.

Gerlach G. Lysiak N. Kin recognition in zebrafish based on phenotype matching. Animal Behaviour, in press.

Turnell E.R., Mann K. D., Rosenthal G.G., and Gerlach G., 2003. Mate Choice in Zebrafish (Danio rerio) analyzed with video-stimulus techniques. The Biological Bulletin 205, 225 – 226.

Mann K.D., Turnell E. R., Atema J., and Gerlach G., 2003. Kin recognition in juvenile zebrafish (Danio rerio) based on olfactory cues. The Biological Bulletin 205, 224 – 225.

Delaney M., Follet C., Ryan N., Hanney N., Lusk-Yablick J., Gerlach G., 2002. Social interaction and distribution of female zebrafish (Danio rerio) in a large aquaria. The Biological Bulletin 203, 240 – 241.