Zebrafish Plasmids and Resources
The zebrafish (Danio rerio), named for the horizontal stripes on the sides of the adult body, is a tropical freshwater fish in the minnow family. It has long been a powerful vertebrate model organism for the study of genetics and developmental biology. With its rapid development (embryogenesis is complete in ~3 days), short generation time (~3 months), ease of care and breeding, and transparency of the embryo and larvae, it is easy to culture large populations that are amenable to genetics, high-throughput screening and non-invasive live imaging.
A robust toolbox of genetic methods is available for zebrafish — including Tol2 transposons, Cre-mediated site-specific recombination, zinc finger nucleases, TALENS, and CRISPR. With more than 70% of human disease genes having an ortholog in the zebrafish genome, this species has been a valuable model system for human disease and translational research, including studies of cancer, inflammation and infection, regeneration, neurological disorders, drug discovery, and more.
Highlighted Plasmids for Zebrafish Research
Explore popular plasmids that contain tools for use in zebrafish research in the table below. This includes plasmids for genome editing, empty backbones, fluorescent reporters, biosensors, and more.
Looking for more? Search Addgene's collection for thousands of plasmids that contain genes from D. rerio or other tools for expression in zebrafish.
| ID | Plasmid | Description | Gene/Insert | PI | Publication |
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Plasmid Kits for Zebrafish
Addgene's plasmid kits are collections of plasmids that have been packaged together because they are intended for use as a set. Explore kits for use in zebrafish in the table below.
| ID | Kit | Description | Items | PI |
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Other Featured Zebrafish Tools
Cloning and Transgenesis
Tol2-based transgenesis and Gateway cloning have been widely adopted by zebrafish researchers for many years. Alongside many well-established tools, new improvements continue to expand the toolbox.
- pIGLET: Safe harbor landing sites for reproducible and efficient transgenesis in zebrafish - Christian Mosimann Lab
- Next-generation plasmids for transgenesis in zebrafish and beyond - Markus Affolter, Alexa Burger, Kristen Kwan, Christian Mosimann, and Nicolas Rohner Labs
- MultiSite Assembly of Gateway Induced Clones (MAGIC): a flexible cloning toolbox for use in vertebrate model systems - Joshua Wythe Lab
CRISPR
From widely-used Cas9 plasmids to new base editors and more, Addgene's collection features many tools for CRISPR gene editing. Explore our Zebrafish CRISPR Plasmids for more plasmids expressing Cas9.
- Efficient genome editing in zebrafish using a CRISPR-Cas system - Keith Joung Lab
- Multiplex conditional mutagenesis using transgenic expression of Cas9 and sgRNAs - Wenbiao Chen Lab
- A CRISPR/Cas9 vector system for tissue-specific gene disruption in zebrafish - Leonard Zon Lab
- Programmable base editing of zebrafish genome using a modified CRISPR-Cas9 system - Shuo Lin Lab
- CRISPR-Cas13d induces efficient mRNA knockdown in animal embryos - Ariel Bazzini and Miguel Angel Moreno-Mateos Labs
- Enhanced RNA-targeting CRISPR-Cas technology in zebrafish - Miguel Angel Moreno-Mateos Lab
- ABE-ultramax for high-efficiency biallelic adenine base editing in zebrafish - Gaurav Varshney Lab
- Genome editing in animals with minimal PAM CRISPR-Cas9 enzymes - Miguel Angel Moreno-Mateos Lab
- Cre-Controlled CRISPR mutagenesis provides fast and easy conditional gene inactivation in zebrafish - Michael Brand Lab
Lineage Tracing
Cell lineage tracing in multicellular systems typically relies on genetic markers, somatic mutations, or labeling with fluorescent proteins to visualize and track clones of cells over time.
- Zebrabow: multispectral cell labeling for cell tracing and lineage analysis in zebrafish - Albert Pan and Alex Schier Labs
- Simultaneous single-cell profiling of lineages and cell types in the vertebrate brain - Alex Schier Lab
- Primordial germ cells differentially contribute to the germline in zebrafish - Florence Marlow Lab
- CellCousin2: an optimized system for partial ablation and tracing of regenerative lineages - Sumeet Pal Singh Lab
Other Tools of Interest
- Live-imaging of astrocyte morphogenesis and function in zebrafish neural circuits - Kelly Monk Lab
- Knock-in tagging in zebrafish facilitated by insertion into non-coding regions - Michel Bagnat Lab
- NTR 2.0: a rationally engineered prodrug-converting enzyme with substantially enhanced efficacy for targeted cell ablation - Jeff Mumm Lab
Additional Resources
Addgene Blog Posts
External Resources
- Zebrafish Model Organism Database (ZFIN) - A curated database of genetic, genomic, and developmental data for zebrafish biology.
- Zebrafish Genome Project - Access the latest reference sequence assembly for the zebrafish genome.
- Zebrafish International Resource Center (ZIRC) - A US-based repository for zebrafish strains and materials and information about zebrafish research.
- European Zebrafish Resource Center (EZRC) - A repository for the distribution of zebrafish lines for researchers in Europe.
- International Zebrafish Society (IZFS) - An organization that promotes and advocates for zebrafish research in the international research community.
- Zebrafish Disease Models Society (ZDMS) - An international association supporting basic and clinical research using zebrafish disease models
- Zebrafish Rock! - Slack and social media channels for zebrafish researchers to connect.
- The Zebrafish Book - A laboratory guide for use of zebrafish.
- CRISPRz - A database of CRISPR/Cas9 target sequences that have been experimentally validated in zebrafish.
- Zebrafish expression atlas - A zebrafish-specific gene expression database that provides information about when genes are active in developing embryos.
- zfRegeneration - A database for gene expression profiling during regeneration.
- Seurat - R package for analyzing single cell genomics in zebrafish.
Credits
- Contributing Authors
- Written and reviewed by the Scientific Curation team at Addgene.
- Last Updated
- Content last reviewed on 14 September 2026. Catalog items are updated more frequently.
Do you have suggestions for other plasmids that should be added to this collection?
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