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Ontogeny of soldier behaviour and its polyethism in termites
Homolka, Petr ; Šobotník, Jan (advisor) ; Frouz, Jan (referee)
The presence of soldier caste is an important synapomorphy of group Isoptera. The adaptation of this caste to defense tasks is more than obvious and some of their morphological or even behavioral adaptations can be quite impressive. The polyethism in termites is relatively well known inbetween rather worker caste. If there are such a studies pointing at polyethism in soldiers, they are connected with soldier polymorphism. The morphological differences are of course important stimulus to role separation. The goal of this thesis was to examine the polyethism in the species of the termite with monomorphic soldiers - Prorhinotermes simplex. I did behavioral experiments with it in enclosed arenas, recorded on specific days. The data shows, that there are differences inbetween individuals and it would be benefical to invest further time to subsequent studies. The thesis bring out new point of view to defensive behaviour of termites and suggests, that even termite species without polymorphic species may have soldiers with different tasks. Besides I managed to map ontogeny of soldier behaviour in the first two weeks after moulting from presoldier instar. Key words: Isoptera, polyethism, soldiers, ontogeny, defensive behaviour Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Enzymatic system of anaerobic rumen fungi
Novotná, Zuzana ; Fliegerová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Homolka, Petr (referee) ; Javorský, Peter (referee)
Anaerobic fungi inhabiting the digestive tract of large herbivores secrete a variety of hydrolytic enzymes, including cellulases, xylanases, mannases, esterases, glucosidases, and glucanases, which effectively hydrolyze plant biomass consisting mainly of cellulose and hemicellulose, the most abundant polysaccharides in the biosphere. The immense progress has been achieved in investigation of Neocallimastix, Piromyces, however other genera are less studied. This work therefore concentrated the effort to analyze the hydrolytic system of genera Anaeromyces, Orpinomyces, Caecomyces and fungus KF9 described as new type of fungus belonging to the genus Piromyces. The studied anaerobic fungi grown in batch culture on M10 medium with rumen fluid and microcrystalline cellulose as carbon source produced a broad range of enzymes requisite for degradation of plant structural and storage carbohydrates including cellulase, endoglucanase, xylanase, α-xylosidase, β-xylosidase, α-glucosidase, β-glucosidase, β-galactosidase, mannosidase, cellobiohydrolase, amylase, laminarinase, pectinase and pectate lyase. These enzymes were detected in both the intra- and extra-cellular fractions, but production into the medium was prevalent with exception for intracellular β-xylosidase, chitinases, N-acetylglucosaminidase, and...
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Ontogeny of soldier behaviour and its polyethism in termites
Homolka, Petr ; Šobotník, Jan (advisor) ; Frouz, Jan (referee)
The presence of soldier caste is an important synapomorphy of group Isoptera. The adaptation of this caste to defense tasks is more than obvious and some of their morphological or even behavioral adaptations can be quite impressive. The polyethism in termites is relatively well known inbetween rather worker caste. If there are such a studies pointing at polyethism in soldiers, they are connected with soldier polymorphism. The morphological differences are of course important stimulus to role separation. The goal of this thesis was to examine the polyethism in the species of the termite with monomorphic soldiers - Prorhinotermes simplex. I did behavioral experiments with it in enclosed arenas, recorded on specific days. The data shows, that there are differences inbetween individuals and it would be benefical to invest further time to subsequent studies. The thesis bring out new point of view to defensive behaviour of termites and suggests, that even termite species without polymorphic species may have soldiers with different tasks. Besides I managed to map ontogeny of soldier behaviour in the first two weeks after moulting from presoldier instar. Key words: Isoptera, polyethism, soldiers, ontogeny, defensive behaviour Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Termite behaviour and polyethisms during colony defence
Homolka, Petr ; Šobotník, Jan (advisor) ; Straka, Jakub (referee)
My bachelor thesis deals with the various defensive adaptations of termites, not only in specialized caste of defenders, the soldiers, but also in members of other castes. Termites are the eldest group of eusocial insects on the planet and their defence systems are indeed impressive. I tried to describe the defensive strategies in general, morphological, anatomical and behavioral adaptations of termites to defence, and also major termites enemies. At the end I also sum up the knowledge on polyethism, which should be the aim of my future thesis.
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Enzymatic system of anaerobic rumen fungi
Novotná, Zuzana ; Fliegerová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Homolka, Petr (referee) ; Javorský, Peter (referee)
Anaerobic fungi inhabiting the digestive tract of large herbivores secrete a variety of hydrolytic enzymes, including cellulases, xylanases, mannases, esterases, glucosidases, and glucanases, which effectively hydrolyze plant biomass consisting mainly of cellulose and hemicellulose, the most abundant polysaccharides in the biosphere. The immense progress has been achieved in investigation of Neocallimastix, Piromyces, however other genera are less studied. This work therefore concentrated the effort to analyze the hydrolytic system of genera Anaeromyces, Orpinomyces, Caecomyces and fungus KF9 described as new type of fungus belonging to the genus Piromyces. The studied anaerobic fungi grown in batch culture on M10 medium with rumen fluid and microcrystalline cellulose as carbon source produced a broad range of enzymes requisite for degradation of plant structural and storage carbohydrates including cellulase, endoglucanase, xylanase, α-xylosidase, β-xylosidase, α-glucosidase, β-glucosidase, β-galactosidase, mannosidase, cellobiohydrolase, amylase, laminarinase, pectinase and pectate lyase. These enzymes were detected in both the intra- and extra-cellular fractions, but production into the medium was prevalent with exception for intracellular β-xylosidase, chitinases, N-acetylglucosaminidase, and...
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The mineral content of forage influenced by previous varying intensity grazing
Pavlů, Klára ; Homolka, Petr (advisor) ; Filip, Filip (referee)
The mineral content of grassland is one of the key factors that determine its quality. The aim of the study was to determine the optimal interval for the grazing and the optimal interval for the hay harvest in relation to the nutrient requirements for cattle and determine the dynamics of pasture forage yield and mineral content during the growing season. H0: Previous different grazing intensity has no effect on biomass yield and the mineral content in the following growing season. The experiment was performed on a long term grazing experiment in 2012 -- 2013, where during the growing season biomass samples were taken and subsequently analyzed for minerals (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na). The sampling was carried out in treatments that have been since 1998 at the beginning of June mowed and then intensively or extensively grazed. During the sampling period the access of grazed animals to sampling sites was forbidden. Intensive or extensive grazing in the previous grazing season significantly affected the content of minerals and biomass yields. Especially at the beginning of the growing season the contents of N, Ca and Mg were higher in forage, which was in previous years, intensively grazed. After that, the differences between these two treatments were not significant. Diverse grassland with a higher proportion of herbs contained higher levels of calcium and magnesium. Because of lower K concentrations and higher Ca and Mg concentrations in the fodder there was no problem with tetanus ratio (K/Ca + Mg) by exceeding the limit value of 2.2. The present work shows that the optimal term for hay in mesophilic upland grassland the end of May to mid-June. In this time historically the first cut was conducted. After this period there are revealed such changes in the content of minerals, which significantly deteriorate the forage quality. Therefore, if the first cut after mid-June is postponed then compensatory payments under environmental schemes should progressively compensate financially losses
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