Services

JU Laboratory of Fish Genetics and Reproduction and Hatchery is focused on reproduction-related experiments - broodstock management and the preparation for semi-artificial or induced reproduction, work with fish gametes, the study of fish sperm motility, cryopreservation of fish gametes, flow-cytometry, optical microscopy, image analysis, micromanipulations, genetic analyses (sequencing, fragment analysis).

The Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice includes 5 facilities. All together, they provide:

• A modern and multipurpose fish hatchery with a total area of 220 m² is designed for early-stage fish experiments. Twelve circular tanks (6 m3 in total) and four rectangular basins (12 m3 in total) operated by two separate RAS are used for rearing the yearlings.

• Two RAS (2 x 8 m3) are ready for the experimental preparation of broodstock for controlled reproduction and another RAS is available for early rearing of juveniles (6 x 1.5 m3).

• The facility provides the possibility to keep model species or juveniles in controlled conditions.

• Microscopes and equipment for analysis of fish spermatozoa motility, cryopreservation experiments, and semen analysis, instrumentation for germ cell and blastomere cryopreservation and micromanipulation are available.

• Fish cultivation experiments can be realised in aquariums, small or large tank systems, and pond systems. Tanks are designed to allow sampling of faeces or uneaten feed in sedimentation cones (digestibility studies).

• RAS and flow-through systems for aquariums and tanks are available. The large-scale RAS hall for intensive aquaculture of ongrowing or grow-out stock of different species includes two separated RAS, each system with a total water volume of 30 m3, a controlled temperature, light, pH and oxygen regime, and the possibility to use ozone treatment for water sterilisation.

• The pond culture system includes a maximum of 9 experimental ponds with a total area of 0.16 or 0.08 ha, that can be used for the optimization of larval, juvenile, or marketable mono- or polyculture of different fish species.

• The aquaponic hall provides the opportunity to perform a variety of projects focussed on joint fish cultivation and hydroponic plants cultivation. It consists of 6 independent RAS and 200 m² of greenhouse.

• The two analytical labs, four aquarium rooms, and a processing plant are equipped with instruments for proximate and amino acid analyses, sensory analyses, lipid, volatiles and oxidation analyses, vitamin and protein analyses, elemental analyses, and microscopy analyses.

• The infrastructure for infectious experiments on fish is available in the form of a controlled aquarium room.

• Blood and tissue sampling from experimental animals, culturing viruses on cell lines, performing in vitro assays, culturing bacteria, isolating nucleic acids, PCR, qPCR and droplet digital PCR are available.

• The physical infrastructure is supported by the expert services which are available for almost all facilities of FFPW.

• Tank experiments can be automatically monitored by several camera systems with automatic data processing to provide information about fish behaviour or fish appearance.

• The image processing software (LoliTrack, in-house build software) can be used by the user to automatise experiments.

Support offered

JU will provide suitable supervision and guidance for potential inexperienced users to properly carry out the work. The technical and management staff will be helpful with the overall project’s implementation.

Modality of access

The Modality of access is actual costs. On average each user or user group is expected to stay 14 days at the IAPW (feeding trials, analyses of feed and fish quality, fish processing, optimisation of fish intensive culture), 14 days at the ICS (the typical access start with the analysis of the research problem/data, continue with the proposal of the solution and development of the solution of particular data), 14 days at the GRC (preparation of broodstock, realisation of experiments related to reproduction, physiology of reproduction, genetics, incubation of fertilised eggs and juvenile breeding, preparatory work in laboratory – preparation of samples, equipment set-up, calibration or operation, laboratory experiments or analyses, cryoconservation of gametes etc.), 14 days at the IFA (specific training related to intensive farming of high valuable fish or biological aspects of reproduction and culture of fish, preparatory work related experiment and set-up of experimental design, preparatory work in laboratory – treatment of samples, equipment calibration and measurement on analytic instrument), 14 days at the LIFD – experimental infection of fish (preferably carp) with koi herpes virus, carp edema virus, spring viremia of carp virus or Aeromonas hydrophila, sampling of blood and tissues, processing of samples (hematology, NAs isolation, PCR,…)