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2. Search ZFIN (http://zfin.org/) to ensure that your gene hasn't already been named. A good way to do this is to use ZFIN BLAST. Use the Nucleotide -Nucleotide BLAST.
If there is no identical match check to see if your gene has a closely related gene such as genes created by the genome duplication or a tandemly duplicated gene.
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If you are reporting one or both duplicates and have mapped them to duplicate chromosome segments, make an effort to keep the "a" and "b" terminology consistent with other duplicates already mapped on the chromosomal segment.
Example: You identify the two zebrafish duplicates of the human gene ZZZ. You have mapped one duplicate to LG3 near the hoxb "a" genes and the other duplicate you have mapped to LG12 near the hoxb "b" genes. Propose zzza for the gene on LG3 and zzzb for the gene on LG12 to conform to the nomenclature of hoxb genes already mapped to those chromosomes.
4. If the gene is new to zebrafish but has a human or mouse ortholog, check the Human Nomenclature Database or the Mouse Genome Informatics resources for the name and symbol used in those species:
Human: http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/nomenclature/searchgenes.pl
Mouse: http://www.informatics.jax.org/searches/marker_form.shtml
Human and mouse gene names in these two resources are approved by nomenclature committees.
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8. Check ZFIN to ensure that the symbol you want to use is not already in use for a different zebrafish gene or mutant. Also, check the Human Nomenclature Database and the Mouse Genome Informatics resources to ensure the symbol you want to use is not already in use for a different gene in human or mouse.
Example from above: dihydrolipoamide branched chain transacylase E2; dbt. You search ZFIN for a gene already named dbt as well as for a mutant whose abbreviation is dbt. A quick search shows that dbt is not already used for a zebrafish gene or mutant. We know DBT and Dbt are dihydrolipoamide branched chain transacylase E2 in human and mouse. The symbol dbt is still OK.
Example from above: calcium channel, voltage-dependent, alpha 1G subunit; cacna1g. You know cacna1g isn't already used for a zebrafish gene or mutant. However, when you search the Human Nomenclature Database, you find a CACNA1G gene in humans and when you search the Mouse Genome Informatics site, you find Cacna1g. If your zebrafish cacna1 gene is not the ortholog of the human CACNA1G and mouse Cacna1g, you need to propose a different symbol.
Example from above: apoptosis determining protein, neuronal; adpn. You find no zebrafish gene or mutant called adpn. However, when you search the Human Nomenclature Database and the Mouse Genome Informatics resources, you find that ADPN/Adpn is already used for the adiponutrin gene. You need to come up with a different symbol for your apoptosis determining protein gene expressed in neurons.
9. Make sure the symbol you select does not interrupt an existing gene family in zebrafish, human, or mouse by entering a truncated form of your proposed symbol in a gene query form and searching the databases using the "begins with" operator.
Example: You isolate a heart expressed cytokeratin and you want to propose hexc. hexc is not used for zebrafish, human, or mouse genes. However, you search ZFIN, the Human Nomenclature Database and the Mouse Genome Informatics resources for "hex" using the "begins with" operator. You find that in both human and mouse, there are HEXA/Hexa and HEXB/Hexb genes for hexosaminidase A and hexosaminidase B. hexc for your zebrafish gene is not a good symbol because if another human or mouse hexosaminidase gene is found, it will be assigned HEXC/Hexc.
10. Check other resources to ensure that the symbol you select is not a very commonly used, unapproved symbol. Useful resources to check are:
Entrez Gene: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=gene
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee: http://www.genenames.org/
The Genome Database: http://gdbwww.gdb.org/gdb/
OMIM: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=OMIM
PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed
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