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Evolution of Host Specialisation, Phylogeography and Taxonomic Revision of Xenidae (Strepsiptera)
Benda, Daniel
Twisted-winged parasites (Strepsiptera: Xenidae) are an excellent group for studying the specialisation of parasites on hosts. Their parasitic lifestyle led to the evolution of numerous morphological, behavioural, physiological, and reproductive adaptations. Moreover, many complex adaptive traits of Strepsiptera have no parallel in other organisms. In contrast, little attention has been paid to the study of strepsipteran molecular phylogeny, phylogeography, species delimitation, and their implications for taxonomic classification. Using the methods of molecular phylogeny, we created the first dated phylogenetic study of the family Xenidae. By investigating historical biogeography and ancestral host groups, we indicate that multiple lineages were exchanged between the New World and the Old World + Australia until Antarctica became completely frozen over. During the late Paleogene and Neogene periods, several lineages spread from the Afrotropics to other Old World regions and Australia. The original hosts of Xenidae were most likely social wasps, and the subsequent host switch from social to solitary wasps was secondary and probably occurred only once. The parallel host switch from solitary wasps to digger wasps (Sphecidae) occurred independently in the New and Old World. The biogeography and...
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Evolution of Host Specialisation, Phylogeography and Taxonomic Revision of Xenidae (Strepsitera)
Benda, Daniel ; Straka, Jakub (advisor) ; Malenovský, Igor (referee) ; Cook, Jerry L. (referee)
Twisted-winged parasites (Strepsiptera: Xenidae) are an excellent group for studying the specialisation of parasites on hosts. Their parasitic lifestyle led to the evolution of numerous morphological, behavioural, physiological, and reproductive adaptations. Moreover, many complex adaptive traits of Strepsiptera have no parallel in other organisms. In contrast, little attention has been paid to the study of strepsipteran molecular phylogeny, phylogeography, species delimitation, and their implications for taxonomic classification. Using the methods of molecular phylogeny, we created the first dated phylogenetic study of the family Xenidae. By investigating historical biogeography and ancestral host groups, we indicate that multiple lineages were exchanged between the New World and the Old World + Australia until Antarctica became completely frozen over. During the late Paleogene and Neogene periods, several lineages spread from the Afrotropics to other Old World regions and Australia. The original hosts of Xenidae were most likely social wasps, and the subsequent host switch from social to solitary wasps was secondary and probably occurred only once. The parallel host switch from solitary wasps to digger wasps (Sphecidae) occurred independently in the New and Old World. The biogeography and...
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Sex chromosome evolution in selected taxa of teleost fishes (Teleostei)
Pavlica, Tomáš ; Sember, Alexandr (advisor) ; Kratochvíl, Lukáš (referee)
Teleosts represent more than half of the extant vertebrate species. They show a wide range of mechanisms driving both sex determination and sex differentiation, including nine sex chromosome systems described to date. Teleost sex chromosomes are generally considered as evolutionarily young, therefore they are suitable for an analysis of the early stages of evolution of these unique genomic regions. The aim of the current thesis was to analyze the presence and degree of differentiation of sex chromosomes in two Nothobranchius killifish species and one Bunocephalus banjo catfish representative using conventional and molecular cytogenetic methods. Different populations of N. kadleci and N. furzeri analysed in this thesis shared anXY sex chromosome system. Despite the obvious heteromorphy of their sex chromosomes, comparative genome hybridization (CGH) did not show any region of differentiation. Analysis of synaptonemal complexes by immunostaining coupled with the mapping of 18S rDNA and telomeric repeats using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) showed mainly standard pairing with the contribution of synaptic adjustment. Pachytene spreads of females from one N. furzeri population contained a small supernumerary chromosome which was not present in metaphases of studied somatic cells. Distribution...
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Sexual incompatibility of protist cryptic species
Jelínková, Lucie ; Škaloud, Pavel (advisor) ; Urbánková, Pavla (referee)
The systematic and the evolutionary biology attempt to define a species category or a species taxon from the beginning of their existence. Specific taxons are considered species on the base of different criteria, so on the base of different species concepts. Most of these concepts emerged previous century. The biological species concept has been assumed to be most important species concept for dozens of times. It was based on a presence of the reproduction isolation of two species. However, its applicability was questioned by the existence of many asexual lineages and also the lineages with a large degree of hybridization between an approved species. This thesis is trying to give a description of the biological species concept and its changes during the time. And it is also trying to answer the question of its simultaneous usability for protist.
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Species delimitation in lobose amoebae
Foučková, Martina ; Čepička, Ivan (advisor) ; Škaloud, Pavel (referee)
Lobose amoebae - amoebas that create lobopodia - are distributed among the supergroup Amoebozoa, Excavata, Rhizaria and the genus Anaeramoeba (Eukaryota incertae sedis). For their species delimitation (i.e., pinpointing boundaries between particular species), morphological features are used most often, such as the size and shape of the cell, appearance of the hyaloplasm, pseudopodia and subpseudopodia, granuloplasm with cytoplasmatic inclusions, number and size of nuclei, shape of the uroid and cysts if present. The morphological characteristics are easily documented using a light microscope. Ultrastructural features, such as the ultrastructure of nuclei and nucleoli, surface structures, and organelles, are used as well. Nowadays, species are also described and distinguished employing molecular methods, mostly analyses of the SSU rRNA and actin genes, COI barcoding, and ITS sequences, which allow detection of cryptic species. Before the sequencing era, RFLP, RAPD and isozymes methods were also used for delimitation of species. This thesis focuses on particular methods and features used for species delimitation of lobose amoebae on the basis of 125 selected species belonging to Amoebozoa (orders Acanthamoebida, Pellitida, Himatismenida, Dermamoebida, Thecamoebida, Vannellida, Dactylopodida,...
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Diversity and taxonomy of members of genus Geastrum in Central America
Zehnálek, Petr ; Koukol, Ondřej (advisor) ; Tomšovský, Michal (referee)
In temperate zone, especially Europe and North America, is the genus Geastrum very well inspected group of Gasteromycetes with long lasting and comprehensive history of research. Our knowledge of the diversity in other areas of distribution, especially in tropics, is more than limited. The aim of this diploma thesis is to contribute for cognition of diversity of this genus in Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia I have collected 86 samples belonging to genus Geastrum during three expeditions to Panama (Chiriqué province) in the years 2015, 2016, 2017. I have characterized those based on morphological and molecular data. I have also studied morphology of 40 borrowed herbarium specimens from Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama. I have successfully sequenced four locuses of DNA from my own samples (ITS, LSU, RPB1 and ATP6). This method had lover efficiency in herbarium specimens due to present contaminations, age of specimens or probably badly stored. Molecular phylogenetic analysis was carried out by Bayesian method and its results have in agreement with morphologic traits shown many lineages new for Panama and moreover at least four new species completely new to science. Variability in species complexes (e.g. G. lageniforme, G. saccatum, G. velutinum) is presented in more detail with emphasis to lineages...
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Cryptic diversity of freshwater alga Synura sphagnicola (Chrysophyceae, Stramenopiles)
Slámová, Pavla ; Škaloud, Pavel (advisor) ; Dvořák, Petr (referee)
A common alga of oligotrophic slightly acidic fresh water habitats, Synura sphagnicola, has never been suspected for a presence of cryptic diversity. The publicly available SSU rDNA sequences showed very slight genetic differences between the S. sphagnicola isolates. However, I suspected that if any cryptic lineages exist, the sequencing of ITS region will show the differences between them. A total of 37 S. sphagnicola sequences (36 from Europe and 1 from Korea) were analyzed in this thesis. The ITS rDNA sequencing clearly recognized the presence of two distinct cryptic species, referred here as lineage SP1 and SP2. The morphological analysis of 14 cultivated strains (6 belonging to the lineage SP1 and 8 to the lineage SP2) validated the genetic distinction. The statistical analyses showed that 4 morphological aspects (length of a scale, width of a scale, length of a spine, length of a rim) were found to have significant differences in length of measured factors between species. The most visible difference is in the length of a spine that is connected to the scale. The analysis of published S. sphagnicola scales showed that the two lineages can be morphologically distinguished also in natural conditions. According to the morphological analyses, the lineage SP2 (species with a longer spine)...
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Unveiling hidden species diversity in desmids (Desmidiales, Viridiplantae)
Šťastný, Jan ; Neustupa, Jiří (advisor) ; F.M. Coesel, Peter (referee) ; Kaštovský, Jan (referee)
The delineation of desmid species was traditionally based on purely morphological features. However, a frequent misinterpretation of morphological variability in desmids has led in the past to extensive taxonomical confusion within this important group of green algae which complicates the interpretation of their biodiversity in freshwater ecology, biogeography and biomonitoring. Consequently, I focused in this thesis predominantly on a previously neglected issue, the application of polyphasic approaches in the species-level taxonomy of desmids. In the most studies, a combination of both traditional morphological and modern molecular phylogenetic and geometric morphometric methods has been used to evaluate the taxonomy of selected desmid species, particularly representatives of the morphologically complex genera Micrasterias and Xanthidium. In two papers, I used the combination of traditional morphological and autecological data to clear up the taxonomy of several morphologically less prominent desmid taxa. Generally, the results of the thesis demonstrated that the way we recently see the diversity and distribution of desmids should be thoroughly changed. The real species diversity is mostly distinctly finer than that estimated by classical morphological taxonomy, often corresponds to varieties of...
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Sexual incompatibility of protist cryptic species
Jelínková, Lucie ; Škaloud, Pavel (advisor) ; Urbánková, Pavla (referee)
The systematic and the evolutionary biology attempt to define a species category or a species taxon from the beginning of their existence. Specific taxons are considered species on the base of different criteria, so on the base of different species concepts. Most of these concepts emerged previous century. The biological species concept has been assumed to be most important species concept for dozens of times. It was based on a presence of the reproduction isolation of two species. However, its applicability was questioned by the existence of many asexual lineages and also the lineages with a large degree of hybridization between an approved species. This thesis is trying to give a description of the biological species concept and its changes during the time. And it is also trying to answer the question of its simultaneous usability for protist.
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