Quantitative phenotype assessment - PhenoTox
We use a quantitative phenotype assessment to
- develop alternative 3R-compliant test systems
- to improve the prediction and replacement of vertebrate toxicity tests such as tests for acute and chronic fish toxicity and endocrine disruption
- to predict human (developmental) toxicity.
The quantitative phenotype assessment is employed for the comparative assessment of chemicals, mixtures and environmental samples to
- improve the sensitivity of tests using aquatic non-sentient organism models and
- derive modes of action of chemicals by pattern comparisons
Our primary model is the zebrafish embryo, but in principal the quantitative phenotype assessment can be applied to other aquatic model organisms.
Traditional phenotype assessment is based on scoring, which could be subjective and dependent on the observer’s experience. An image-based assessment enables an unbiased quantitation of morphological changes and also provides a comparative assessment of phenotype patterns.
High content analysis is combined with result from behavioral tests and is made possible by appropriate automation of imaging, specific annotation software (FishInspector) and use of advanced databases (INTOB). Automated workflows using KNIME and R-scripts are employed to derive effect concentrations of individual features.
Group members
If you are interested in joining the group or in collaborations please contact Stefan Scholz.
Dr. Stefan Scholz
Group Leader
Phone: +49 341 6025 1080
E-Mail
Nadia Herold
Scientist
Phone: +49 341 6025 1327
E-Mail
Vanessa Saalmann
PhD student
Phone: +49 341 6025 4951
E-Mail
Bingxu Chen
PhD Student
Phone: +49 341 6025 2373
E-Mail
Gloria Chidiebere Ajugwo
Guest PhD
Phone: +49 341 6025 3447
E-Mail
Emmanuel Ogwu Chukwu
Guest PhD
Phone: +49 341 6025 3349
E-Mail
Tim Jonat
Technician
Phone: +49 341 6025 1922
E-Mail
Carlotta Becker
Technician
Phone: +49 341 6025 2105
E-Mail
Sanjeev Singilipatti Thirumaran
Master Student
Phone: +49 341 6025 3871
E-Mail
Alumni
Julia Nöth, doctoral student and postdoc
Elisabet Teixido, postdoc
Camila Zanini, research assistant
Publications
Inhalt:
Weiterführende Recherchen können Sie in unserem Publikationsverzeichnis durchführen.
2026 (8)
- Aslam, M.A., Massei, R., Scholz, S. (2026):
Comparative effect assessment of bisphenol analogs by high content analysis in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos
Aquat. Toxicol. 295 , art. 107822
10.1016/j.aquatox.2026.107822 - Aslam, M.A., Massei, R., Scholz, S. (2026):
High Content Screening (HCS) image dataset for the study "Comparative effect assessement of Bisphenol analogs by high content analysis in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos"
BioImage Archive
10.6019/S-BIAD3261 - Escher, B.I., Blackwell, B.R., Cavallin, J., Dann, J.P., Jahnke, A., Jenson, C., Jensen, K., Kahl, M., Krauss, M., König, M., Neale, P.A., Scholz, S., Villeneuve, D., Ankley, G.T. (2026):
In vitro bioassays for quantifying mixture effects of organic micropollutants extracted from caged fish, water, and sediment
Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 45 (1), 137 - 151
10.1093/etojnl/vgaf255 - Grasse, N., Scholz, S., Reemtsma, T., Fu, Q. (2026):
Uptake and biotransformation govern the toxicity of reactive acrylamides in an in vivo zebrafish embryo model: implications for NAM-based hazard assessment
Environ. Sci. Technol. 60 (8), 6546 - 6557
10.1021/acs.est.5c10178 - Herold, N.K., Sørensen, L., Creese, M.E., Nahrgang, J., Schweiger, N., Tal, T. (2026):
Identification of neuroactive chemicals in crude oil-derived water-accommodated fractions
Environ. Sci. Technol. 60 (1), 181 - 195
10.1021/acs.est.5c06859 - Leuthold, D., Herold, N.K., Nerlich, J., Bartmann, K., Scharkin, I., Hallermann, S.J., Schweiger, N., Fritsche, E., Tal, T. (2026):
Multibehavioral phenotyping in early-life-stage zebrafish for identifying disruptors of nonassociative learning
Environ. Health Perspect.
10.1021/EHP.6c00394 - Natha, B., Widhalm, R., Granitzer, S., Scholz, S., Timelthaler, G., Filipits, M., Koudelka, H., Mir-Karner, B., Weiß, S., Hengstschläger, M., Grasl-Kraupp, B., Derx, J., Zoboli, O., Distel, M., Gundacker, C. (2026):
Comparative analysis of four PFAS regarding their toxicity to zebrafish development
Ecotox. Environ. Safe. 314 , art. 120080
10.1016/j.ecoenv.2026.120080 - Spath, J., Raab, J., Schor, J., Scholz, S., Gutsfeld, S., Tal, T. (2026):
The zebrafish visual and acoustic motor response (VAMR) assay has the potential to add value to the developmental neurotoxicity in vitro battery (DNT IVB)
NeuroToxicology 114 , art. 103414
10.1016/j.neuro.2026.103414
2025 (16)
- Chen, J., Chen, B., Wesseling, S., Bouwmeester, H., Rietjens, I.M.C.M., Kramer, N.I. (2025):
A population physiologically based kinetic and toxicodynamic model for acute diazinon exposure
Ecotox. Environ. Safe. 294 , art. 118083
10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118083 - Dann, J.P., Ankley, G.T., Blackwell, B.R., Escher, B.I., Jahnke, A., Jensen, K.M., Jenson, C., Krauss, M., Scholz, S., Wernicke, T., Brack, W. (2025):
Current emission vs. legacy organic pollutants: Assessing the extent to which the eco-exposome of caged fish reflects external exposure
Environ. Pollut. 383 , art. 126808
10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126808 - Hayot, G., Lloyd, G.R., Diwan, G.D., Keith, N., Smoot, S.R., Cramer von Clausbruch, C.A., Kaufman, T.C., Barnard, M., Tindall, A.J., Glaholt, S.P., Massei, R., Martínez, R., Strähle, U., Orsini, L., Russell, R.B., Tennessen, J.M., Scholz, S., Shaw, J.R., Freedman, J.H., Colbourne, J.K., Weiss, C., Dickmeis, T. (2025):
Alternative vertebrate and invertebrate model organisms show similar sensitivity as rodents to a diverse set of chemicals
Environ. Sci. Technol. 59 (48), 25634 - 25648
10.1021/acs.est.5c10177 - Herold, N.K., Gutsfeld, S., Leuthold, D., Wray, C., Spath, J., Tal, T. (2025):
Multi-behavioral fingerprints can identify potential modes of action for neuroactive environmental chemicals
NeuroToxicology 108 , 377 - 399
10.1016/j.neuro.2025.05.001 - Herold, N.K., Sørensen, L., Creese, M.E., Nahrgang, J., Schweiger, N., Scholz, S., Tal, T. (2025):
Neuroactive behavioral fingerprinting of crude oil-derived water accommodated fractions in larval zebrafish using a new approach method
Toxicol. Lett. 411 (Supplement), S119
10.1016/j.toxlet.2025.07.302 - Herold, N.K., Sørensen, L., Creese, M.E., Nahrgang, J., Schweiger, N., Tal, T. (2025):
Chemical and Behavioral Fingerprinting Data for the Identification of Neuroactive Compounds in Crude Oil-Derived Water Accommodated Fractions [V3]
Mendeley Data
10.17632/8hmr85pjw7.3 - Leuthold, D., Herold, N., Nerlich, J., Bartmann, K., Scharkin, I., Hallermann, S.J., Schweiger, N., Fritsche, E., Tal, T. (2025):
Data used in Leuthold et al. "Multi-behavioral phenotyping in early-life-stage zebrafish for identifying disruptors of non-associative learning"
figshare
10.6084/m9.figshare.26819890 - Martínez, R., González-Sánchez, J.C., Sampani, S.I., Scholz, S., Escher, B.I., Henneberger, L., Huchthausen, J., Whelan, M., Dickmeis, T., Weiss, C., Colbourne, J.K., Freedman, J.H. (2025):
The PrecisionTox chemical library: creation of a chemical collection to discover evolutionary conserved biomolecular signatures of toxicity
Toxicol. Sci. 208 (2), 317 - 329
10.1093/toxsci/kfaf126 - Massei, R., Busch, W., Serrano-Solano, B., Bernt, M., Scholz, S., Nicolay, E.K., Bohring, H., Bumberger, J. (2025):
High-content screening (HCS) workflows for FAIR image data management with OMERO
Sci. Rep. 15 , art. 16236
10.1038/s41598-025-00720-0 - Michaelis, P., Klüver, N., Aulhorn, S., Bohring, H., Bumberger, J., Haase, K., Kuhnert, T., Küster, E., Krüger, J., Luckenbach, T., Massei, R., Nerlich, L., Petruschke, S., Schnicke, T., Schnurpel, A., Scholz, S., Schweiger, N., Sielaff, D., Busch, W. (2025):
Leveraging zebrafish embryo phenotypic observations to advance data-driven analyses in toxicology
Environ. Sci. Technol. 59 (9), 4304 - 4317
10.1021/acs.est.4c11757 - Nöth, J., Michaelis, P., Schüler, L., Scholz, S., Krüger, J., Haake, V., Busch, W. (2025):
Correction to: Dynamics in zebrafish development define transcriptomic specificity after angiogenesis inhibitor exposure
Arch. Toxicol. 99 (4), 1579
10.1007/s00204-025-03998-1 - Nöth, J., Michaelis, P., Schüler, L., Scholz, S., Krüger, J., Haake, V., Busch, W. (2025):
Dynamics in zebrafish development define transcriptomic specificity after angiogenesis inhibitor exposure
Arch. Toxicol. 99 (4), 1561 - 1578
10.1007/s00204-024-03944-7 - Scholz, S., Zanini, C., Koblitz, A.-K., Möller, T., Aslam, M.A., Ajugwo, G.C., Chukwu, E., Colbourne, J., Kader, S., Fu, Q., Grasse, N., Reemtsma, T., Massei, R. (2025):
Grouping and assessment of chemicals for hazard and risk assessment by high content analysis using the zebrafish embryos as an alternative non-sentient animal model
Toxicol. Lett. 411 (Supplement), S399
10.1016/j.toxlet.2025.07.919 - Tanabe, S., Burgdorf, T., Choi, J., Delrue, N., Edwards, S.W., Filipovska, J., FitzGerald, R., Halappanavar, S., Hench, V.K., Karschnik, T., LaLone, C., Landesmann, B., La Rocca, C., Luijten, M., Meek, B., O’Brien, J.M., Perkins, E.J., Perkins, S., Scholz, S., Song, Y., Tcheremenskaia, O., Thomas, R., Tollefsen, K.E., Villeneuve, D.L., Viviani, B., Whelan, M., Wittwehr, C., Yauk, C. (2025):
Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Coaching Program—how it functions and contributes to a more harmonized approach to AOP development and construction of AOP networks with regulatory utility
Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 44 (10), 2725 - 2732
10.1093/etojnl/vgaf173 - Uthoff, C., Herold, N., Alkassab, A.T., Engelmann, B., Rolle-Kampczyk, U., Pistorius, J., Schweiger, N., Finckh, S., Krauss, M., Thum, A.S., Jehmlich, N., Tal, T., von Bergen, M. (2025):
Cross-taxa sublethal impacts of plant protection products on honeybee in-hive and zebrafish swimming behaviours at environmentally relevant concentrations
Environ. Int. 203 , art. 109750
10.1016/j.envint.2025.109750 - Uthoff, C., Herold, N., Alkassab, A.T., Engelmann, B., Rolle-Kampczyk, U., Pistorius, J., Schweiger, N., Finckh, S., Krauss, M., Thum, A.S., Jehmlich, N., Tal, T., von Bergen, M. (2025):
Dataset for 'Cross-taxa sublethal impacts of plant protection products on honeybee in-hive and zebrafish swimming behaviours at environmentally relevant concentrations'
Zenodo
10.5281/zenodo.16983482
2024 (9)
- Escher, B.I., Ahlheim, J., Böhme, A., Borchardt, D., Brack, W., Braun, G., Colbourne, J.K., Dann, J.P., Gessner, J., Jahnke, A., König, M., Klüver, N., Krauss, M., Lee, J., Li, X., Lips, S., Orsini, L., Rinke, K., Schmitt-Jansen, M., Scholz, S., Schulze, T., Spahr, S., Ulrich, N., Weitere, M., Varga, E. (2024):
Mixtures of organic micropollutants exacerbated in vitro neurotoxicity of prymnesins and contributed to aquatic toxicity during a toxic algal bloom
Nat. Water 2 (9), 889 - 898
10.1038/s44221-024-00297-4 - Grasse, N., Massei, R., Seiwert, B., Scholz, S., Escher, B.I., Reemtsma, T., Fu, Q. (2024):
Impact of biotransformation on internal concentrations and specificity classification of organic chemicals in the zebrafish embryo (Danio rerio)
Environ. Sci. Technol. 58 (40), 17898 - 17907
10.1021/acs.est.4c04156 - Gutsfeld, S., Wehmas, L., Omoyeni, I.E., Schweiger, N., Leuthold, D., Michaelis, P., Howey, X.M., Gaballah, S., Herold, N., Vogs, C., Wood, C., Bertotto, L., Wu, G.-M., Klüver, N., Busch, W., Scholz, S., Schor, J., Tal, T. (2024):
Investigation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor genes as requirements for visual startle response hyperactivity in larval zebrafish exposed to structurally similar per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Environ. Health Perspect. 132 (7), art. 077007
10.1289/EHP13667 - Hayot, G., Marcato, D., Cramer von Clausbruch, C.A., Pace, G., Strähle, U., Colbourne, J.K., Pylatiuk, C., Peravali, R., Weiss, C., Scholz, S., Dickmeis, T. (2024):
Evaluating toxicity of chemicals using a zebrafish vibration startle response screening system
J. Vis. Exp. 2024 (203), e66153
10.3791/66153 - Hayot, G., Massei, R., Lloyd, G., Keith, N., Diwan, G., Martinez Lopez, R., Barnard, M., Cramer von Clausbruch, C.A., Grasse, N., Smoot, S., Escher, B., Tennessen, J., Tindall, A., Oliver, B., Shaw, J., Scholz, S., Freedman, J., Strähle, U., Colbourne, J., Weiss, C., Dickmeis, T. (2024):
Systematic acquisition of toxicity data in non- sentient models across animal phylogeny: implications for read- across and estimation of toxicity in humans
Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol. 397 (Suppl. 1), S17 - S18-69
10.1007/s00210-024-02974-3 - Herold, N.K. (2024):
Multi-behavioral fingerprints can identify the mode of action for neuroactive environmental chemicals _ VAMR2
Mendeley Data
10.17632/97f3yffwz9.1 - Nöth, J., Busch, W., Tal, T., Lai, C., Ambekar, A., Kießling, T.R., Scholz, S. (2024):
Analysis of vascular disruption in zebrafish embryos as an endpoint to predict developmental toxicity
Arch. Toxicol. 98 (2), 537 - 549
10.1007/s00204-023-03633-x - Tal, T., Myhre, O., Fritsche, E., Rüegg, J., Craenen, K., Aiello-Holden, K., Agrillo, C., Babin, P.J., Escher, B.I., Dirven, H., Hellsten, K., Dolva, K., Hessel, E., Heusinkveld, H.J., Hadzhiev, Y., Hurem, S., Jagiello, K., Judzinska, B., Klüver, N., Knoll-Gellida, A., Kühne, B.A., Leist, M., Lislien, M., Lyche, J.L., Müller, F., Colbourne, J.K., Neuhaus, W., Pallocca, G., Seeger, B., Scharkin, I., Scholz, S., Spjuth, O., Torres-Ruiz, M., Bartmann, K. (2024):
New approach methods to assess developmental and adult neurotoxicity for regulatory use: a PARC work package 5 project
Front. Toxicol. 6 , art. 1359507
10.3389/ftox.2024.1359507 - Wilhelmi, P., Haake, V., Zickgraf, F.M., Giri, V., Ternes, P., Driemert, P., Nöth, J., Scholz, S., Barenys, M., Flick, B., Birk, B., Kamp, H., Landsiedel, R., Funk-Weyer, D. (2024):
Molecular signatures of angiogenesis inhibitors: a single-embryo untargeted metabolomics approach in zebrafish
Arch. Toxicol. 98 (3), 943 - 956
10.1007/s00204-023-03655-5
2023 (9)
- Bajard, L., Adamovsky, O., Audouze, K., Baken, K., Barouki, R., Beltman, J.B., Beronius, A., Bonefeld-Jørgensen, E.C., Cano-Sancho, G., de Baat, M.L., Di Tillio, F., Fernández, M.F., FitzGerald, R.E., Gundacker, C., Hernández, A.F., Hilscherova, K., Karakitsios, S., Kuchovska, E., Long, M., Luijten, M., Majid, S., Marx-Stoelting, P., Mustieles, V., Negi, C.K., Sarigiannis, D., Scholz, S., Sovadinova, I., Stierum, R., Tanabe, S., Tollefsen, K.E., van den Brand, A.D., Vogs, C., Wielsøe, M., Wittwehr, C., Blaha, L. (2023):
Application of AOPs to assist regulatory assessment of chemical risks – Case studies, needs and recommendations
Environ. Res. 217 , art. 114650
10.1016/j.envres.2022.114650 - Bashirova, N., Poppitz, D., Klüver, N., Scholz, S., Matysik, J., Alia, A. (2023):
A mechanistic understanding of the effects of polyethylene terephthalate nanoplastics in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo
Sci. Rep. 13 , art. 1891
10.1038/s41598-023-28712-y - Colbourne, J.K., Andrews, E., Barnard, M., Čavoški, A., Chaturvedi, A., Epps, D.J.T., Holden, L., Jones, M.R., Li, X., Mueller, F., Ormanin-Lewandowska, A., Orsini, L., Roberts, R., Weber, R.J.M., Zhou, J., Apic, G., Ignasiak, T., Jankovic, K., Krsmanovic, T., Leoni, B., Asole, G., Guigó, R., Marangio, P., Palumbo, E., Perez-Lluch, S., Wucher, V., Vlot, A.H., Anholt, R., Mackay, T., Escher, B.I., Grasse, N., Huchthausen, J., Massei, R., Reemtsma, T., Scholz, S., Schüürmann, G., Bondesson, M., Cherbas, P., et al. (2023):
The Precision Toxicology initiative
Toxicol. Lett. 383 , 33 - 42
10.1016/j.toxlet.2023.05.004 - Cramer von Clausbruch, C.A., Weiss, C., Dickmeis, T., Peravali, R., Strähle, U., Colbourne, J., Hayot, G., Scholz, S., Martinez Lopez, R. (2023):
Quantitative and qualitative assessment of cytotoxicity by automated fluorescence microscopy in human hepatocytes
Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol. 396 (Suppl. 1), S61 - S62
10.1007/s00210-023-02397-6 - Escher, B.I., Altenburger, R., Blüher, M., Colbourne, J.K., Ebinghaus, R., Fantke, P., Hein, M., Köck, W., Kümmerer, K., Leipold, S., Li, X., Scheringer, M., Scholz, S., Schloter, M., Schweizer, P.-J., Tal, T., Tetko, I., Traidl-Hoffmann, C., Wick, L.Y., Fenner, K. (2023):
Modernizing persistence–bioaccumulation–toxicity (PBT) assessment with high throughput animal-free methods
Arch. Toxicol. 97 (5), 1267 - 1283
10.1007/s00204-023-03485-5 - Grasse, N., Seiwert, B., Massei, R., Scholz, S., Fu, Q., Reemtsma, T. (2023):
Uptake and biotransformation of the tire rubber-derived contaminants 6-PPD and 6-PPD quinone in the zebrafish embryo (Danio rerio)
Environ. Sci. Technol. 57 (41), 15598 - 15607
10.1021/acs.est.3c02819 - Hayot, G., von Clausbruch, C., Martinez Lopez, R., Scholz, S., Colbourne, J., Strähle, U., Weiss, C., Peravali, R., Dickmeis, T. (2023):
Phenotypic anchoring for OMICS-guided assessment of liver toxicity in zebrafish
Naunyn-Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol. 396 (Suppl. 1), S61 - S61
10.1007/s00210-023-02397-6 - Scholz, S. (2023):
sscholz-UFZ/EmbryoMotion: EmbryoMotion Version 1.1. - a software to analyse spontaneous tail contraction and photomotor response of zebrafish embryos
Version: 1.1 Zenodo
10.5281/zenodo.8362019 - Wilhelmi, P., Giri, V., Zickgraf, F.M., Haake, V., Henkes, S., Driemert, P., Michaelis, P., Busch, W., Scholz, S., Flick, B., Barenys, M., Birk, B., Kamp, H., Landsiedel, R., Funk-Weyer, D. (2023):
A metabolomics approach to reveal the mechanism of developmental toxicity in zebrafish embryos exposed to 6-propyl-2-thiouracil
Chem.-Biol. Interact. 382 , art. 110565
10.1016/j.cbi.2023.110565