Live imaging infections
Transparent zebrafish embryos provide a great balance between a vertebrate host and optical transparency. Fluorescence microscopy provides a vivid window into host-microbe interactions.
Video: Cryptococcus neoformans invading the brain
Green = blood vessels, red = C. neoformans, blue = macrophages
Green thrombocytes around blue bacteria
Interaction with the host haemostatic system
Sometimes good, sometimes bad (see publications), always cool to image
Right: fibrotic encapsulation of a myobacterial granuloma
Natural infections
Natural pathogens of zebrafish include agents that cause important human diseases (Vibrio cholera) and aquaculture losses (Vibrio anguillarum, Mycobacterium marinum).
Antibiotics
Zebrafish embryos offer a whole animal host for the screening of antibiotic compounds and libraries.