Zebrafish-directed identification of culprits

The zebrafish has become a standard test species in ecotoxicology, and a versatile tool for effect measurement and assessment. Being a complex vertebrate organism it allows for a multitude of biomarker investigations on various sublethal endpoints. Since such effects are determined after exposure of a whole animal, environmental relevance is higher than for microscale cellbased assays.

Environmental relevance is also the focus of the integrated approach of effect-directed analysis (EDA). This recursive process of sample testing and fractionation helps to seperate the key toxicity drivers for final chemical identification. Thus, the real culprits for toxicity in environmental samples can be revealed and distinct measures taken for mitigation or remediation.

It sounds hence logical to combine zebrafish testing and EDA for environmental risk assessment. For our EDA Emerge project we reviewed the utility of zebrafish in EDA studies to date, described advantages and shortconings as well as further requirenents for method development.