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Bioluminescence in Dinoflagellates
Zahradníček, Ondřej ; Němcová, Yvonne (advisor) ; Pichrtová, Martina (referee)
Bioluminescence is a relatively widespread phenomenon in nature. A variety of organisms have the ability to emit light. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to summarize the latest findings on bioluminescence in dinoflagellates. These organisms are the most important protist lineage capable of producing light flashes. Indeed, they are responsible for most of the bioluminescence observed in surface the seas and oceans. This bachelor thesis discusses the biochemical reaction of bioluminescence in which the substrate (luciferin) is oxidized in the presence of the enzyme luciferase. The thesis introduces the major species of luminescent dinoflagellates that frequently cause toxic harmful algal blooms. Then the factors affecting the intensity of bioluminescence are discussed. Last but not least, dinoflagellates can use bioluminescence as protection from predators. For example, they may use a flash of light to startle predators or use the flash as a "burglar alarm" to attract predators of their predators. Key words: bioluminescence, luciferin, luciferase, dinoflagellates, light flash
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Niche width of eukaryotic marine phytoplankton with respect to recent and future climate change.
Junková, Natálie ; Kulichová, Jana (advisor) ; Neustupa, Jiří (referee)
This paper describes the concept of niche breadth of photoautotrophic protists and attempts to introduce us to the basic concepts we may encounter when studying the ecological niche. The review clarifies what a niche is and its components fundamental and realized niche and presents some examples of organisms that are specialists or generalists. It uses diatoms, dinoflagellates and Haptophytes to describe how they can be affected by climate change. Since the number of environmental changes is steadily increasing, it is very difficult to predict the changes in the coexistence of generalists and specialists. The thesis presents some of the main methods used in measuring the width of the ecological niche of protists, which can be MaxEnt, ONE and the most frequently mentioned OMI (outlying mean index) method, which is described in more detail in the thesis. Given the focus of the thesis on photoautotrophic marine plankton, the most frequently mentioned organisms are diatoms, dinoflagellates and Haptophyta. Finally, I summarize the main ocean factors that could be affected by climate change, which are mainly pH, temperature, salinity or the amount of available nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon and iron).
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