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Host specificity of pathogens of water fleas of the genus Daphnia
Ružarovská, Jana ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Vávra, Jiří (referee)
Water fleas of the genus Daphnia are infected by a wide range of parasites with different host range. These parasites are mainly representatives of bacteria, protozoa (group Ichtyosporea), yeasts, microsporidia and oomycetes. Host specificity of these parasites is very different. We can find there those, who infect only one host species, but also those, who infect a lot of host species (also hosts of different subphylums). Antagonistic coevolution is the major driving force for evolution of the parasite-host system. Parasites create on their host negative frequency-dependent selection, that cause a lot of phenomenons such as clonal/isolate specificity of both antagonists, maintenance of genetic polymorphism, decreasing virulence etc. A special group of organisms are epibionts, that live on the surface of their holder. Their specialization manifests as preference of a substrate. This thesis summarizes a current knowledge on the host specificity of chosen parasites of the genus Daphnia and also includes what is known about their life cycles. Key words: Host specificity, specialization, generalist, Daphnia, microsporidia, complex life cycle, epibiont.
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Phylogeography and genetic variation of benthic crustaceans in European inland waters
Pešek, Pavel ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Sacherová, Veronika (referee)
This thesis summarises published information about geographic distribution of genealogical lineages and genetic variability of benthic crustaceans of European continental waters, and evaluates the historical factors that affected their distribution. it is focused mainly on species for which multiple or in-depth studies have been published. A particular attention is given to crayfish of the genus Austropotamobius. Present distribution of genealogical lineages has been affected by changes in connectedness and availability of aquatic habitats. Species lineages often split in consequence to geological and climatic processes during the Tertiary, as exemplified on species complexes of Austropotamobius crayfish, species lineages of the amphipod Gammarus fossarum species complex, and the isopod Asellus aquaticus. The distribution of intraspecific lineages has been strongly affected by Quaternary cycles of glaciation, which not only destroyed many habitats by moving glaciers but also created new colonisation routes. Such routes were peri-glacial lakes, which had been used by Gammarus lacustris, or retreat of sea level, which enabled white-clawed crayfish to colonise England, and a freshwater crab to colonise Italy. Changes in sea levels are also the likely reasons for colonisation of continental waters by the...
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Seasonal variation of activity and pathogen prevalence in populations of the spiny-cheek crayfish
Matasová, Klára ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Slavík, Ondřej (referee)
The most widespread of invasive crayfish in the Czech Republic is the spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus). It is a major disease carrier of crayfish plague, caused by the pathogen Aphanomyces astaci. The infection is lethal to European native species of crayfish. Transmission of this disease is usually associated with the spread of crayfish, which is dependent on their movement. The main aim of this work was to evaluate the differences in crayfish migratory activity in the Pšovka brook among seasons, and assess the factors that may affect it, by the use of radiotelemetry and trapping. We tested the hypothesis that crayfish use brook in the period from spring to autumn and then return back into a pond to overwinter. Furthermore, we evaluated how far from the pond crayfish migrate, and whether there is any relationship between migration and the season or water temperature. The results demonstrate that the activity varies among seasons (being strongly affected by breeding season) but in most studied periods did not significantly depend on water temperature. According to our monitoring, the spiny-cheek crayfish does not spread substantially to upstream parts of the Pšovka. Seasonal migration between the pond and the brook was monitored using two-way flow-through traps installed at the mouth of...
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Vocalization of two nightingale species in their hybrid zone
Vokurková, Jana ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Osiejuk, Tomasz S. (referee)
6 ABSTRACT Bird song is a sexually selected trait that is crucial for mate choice and for maintenance of pre-mating reproductive barriers. Secondary contact of closely related and partially reproductively isolated song bird species may result in changes in their songs; these can either diverge and strengthen the reproductive barrier between the two species, or converge and contribute to mixing of their gene pools. The Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) and its congener Common Nightingale (L. megarhynchos) may serve as model species suitable for studying these phenomena. In their secondary contact zone, an interspecific hybridization has been documented, as well as convergence of songs of Thrush Nightingales caused by copying of heterospecific songs. Such copying may be a result of erroneous learning of species- specific songs or by genetic introgression. We tested these hypotheses by simultaneous analyses of DNA and song recordings of both species from allopatry (Czech Republic and northeastern Poland) and sympatry (central Poland). Comparisons between our recordings and a catalogue of songs recorded in a Common Nightingale population from allopatry (Germany) confirmed that most of Thrush Nightingale males from the sympatric region were 'mixed singers' that use Common Nightingale phrases in their...
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Transmission and detection of the crayfish plague pathogen under experimental conditions
Svoboda, Jiří ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Fiala, Ivan (referee)
The crayfish plague pathogen, Aphanomyces astaci, is one of the most serious threats to European indigenous crayfish species, e.g., the noble crayfish (Astacus astacus). The only way to protect susceptible crayfish species from the disease is to prevent the dispersion of the pathogen to their populations. One of the most important sources of the crayfish plague pathogen in Central Europe is the spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus), a species of North American origin, which can carry the parasite in its cuticle for years. Some literature sources claimed that the pathogen dispersion from the American vectors is restricted to periods of moulting or to the time before and after the crayfish death. However, experimental evidence for such hypotheses was lacking. The main aim of my thesis was to test these predictions, and the alternative scenario that the crayfish plague pathogen can be transmitted from the infected spiny-cheek crayfish also in other periods. For this purpose, experiments were set up to investigate A. astaci transmission from infected spiny-cheek crayfish to non-infected spiny-cheek or noble crayfish. As expected, the pathogen was transmitted to noble crayfish much more easily than to the uninfected American host. Nevertheless, we succeeded in the pathogen transmission also among spiny-cheek...
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Genetic variation in North American crayfish species introduced to Europe and the prevalence of the crayfish plague pathogen in their populations
Filipová, Lenka ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Diéguez-Uribeondo, Javier (referee) ; Trontejl, Peter (referee)
- ABSTRACT (IN ENGLISH) - Biological invasions by crustaceans represent a serious threat for native species in Europe. In my thesis I focus on non-indigenous freshwater crayfish introduced to Europe and their parasite Aphanomyces astaci, the pathogen of the crayfish plague. The thesis consists of four already published first-author papers (chapters I, II, IV and V), two first-author manuscripts (chapters III and VI), and one paper which I co-authored (chapter VII). The first part (chapters I-V) focuses on genetic variation in North American crayfish introduced to Europe. We showed that in two crayfish species, both successful invaders in Europe, genetic variation differs significantly, reflecting their different colonization histories on the continent. The spiny-cheek crayfish Orconectes limosus was likely introduced to Europe just once, in small numbers (90 individuals). Variation at the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) level in the spiny-cheek crayfish in Europe is much lower compared to North America (chapter I), although some variation was revealed by nuclear markers in its Central European populations (chapter II). In contrast, the signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus was introduced to Europe several times, in large numbers. Its European populations are highly diverse genetically and belong to a single...
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Detection, distribution, diversity and phylogeny of the crayfish plague pathogen Aphanomyces astaci (Oomycetes)
Kozubíková, Eva ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Dunn, Alison M. (referee) ; Füreder, Leopold (referee)
My Ph.D. thesis deals with various aspects of research of the crayfish plague pathogen, Aphanomyces astaci (Oomycetes). Crayfish plague decimates whole populations of European crayfish; therefore, it is one of the main problems for conservation of these species endangered from other reasons as well. The infection is transmitted by invasive North American crayfish, which are much less susceptible to the disease and are apparently original hosts of A. astaci. The core of this thesis consists of six studies. Four of them have been already published, the remaining two are manuscripts under review. The main linking motive among the presented studies is not only the crayfish plague pathogen itself, but also the use, development and verification of the reliability of molecular detection methods of A. astaci and its genotypes. This core of the thesis is further divided into two parts. The first one contains four studies that deal with the distribution of A. astaci in North American crayfish populations in the Czech Republic (Chapter 1) and Hungary (Chapter 2), and factors influencing this distribution. Two North American crayfish species can be found in the wild in these countries, the spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus) and the signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). The first two chapters show...
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Genetic structure of the Daphnia longispina complex in European mountain lakes
Hamrová, Eva ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Schwenk, Klaus (referee) ; Hobaek, Anders (referee)
I studied the genetic structure of cladocerans from the Daphnia longispina complex in several European mountain ranges. The population genetic structure of the D. longispina complex was studied using mitochondrial (mtDNA; partial sequencing of the 12S rRNA gene) and nuclear markers (nine microsatellite loci). Major part of the work was done in the Tatra Mountains; the genetic structure of populations of the Daphnia longispina complex from two parts of this range (the West and the High Tatras) was compared. The pattern of mtDNA confirmed multiple colonization of lakes from different source populations, detected haplotype diversity was high and haplotype sharing only within the West or the High Tatras was observed. The observed genetic differentiation indicates low level of gene flow and persistent founder effect, consistent with the monopolization hypothesis. The alternation of asexual and sexual reproduction in the life cycle of Daphnia, cyclical parthenogenesis, may affect genetic structure of their populations. This was the topic of a study described in the first chapter. A detailed analysis of population structure of two closely related Daphnia species (D. galeata and D. longispina) living in similar habitats (permanent dimictic mountain lakes) in the Tatra Mountains revealed that populations...
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Host-parazite coevolution in aquatic environments
Hubová, Jana ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Votýpka, Jan (referee)
Antagonistic coevolution is a major driving force in the evolution of host and parasite. Parasites create on their host a time delay, negative frequency-dependent selection, which leads to oscillations in both genotypes of antagonists, as suggested by the Red Queen hypothesis derived for coevolution of host and parasite. The most commonly used systems for the study of host-parasite coevolution in an aquatic environment are (thanks to their features): diatom Asterionella and chytrid Zygorhizidium, aquatic snail Potamopyrgus and trematods Microphallus, water fleas Daphnia and their microparasites. Coevolution between host and parasite causes a number of phenomena, such as maintenance of genetic polymorphism, temporal oscillations of genotype frequencies, the persistence of sexual reproduction, parasite local and host adaptations. This thesis summarizes the current knowledge on the coevolution of the above-mentioned three host-parasite systems in the aquatic environment. Key words: Red Queen hypothesis, host-parasite coevolution, negative frequency-dependent selection, aquatic environments, Asterionella formosa, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, Daphnia.
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Environmental gradients in canyon-shaped reservoirs
Stodola, Jakub ; Petrusek, Adam (advisor) ; Seďa, Jaromír (referee)
The occurrence of environmental gradients in canyon-shaped reservoirs is influenced mainly by the size of reservoir and water retention time. The reservoir must be large and deep enough for environmental gradients to occur there. In such reservoirs vertical and horizontal gradients can be found. Presence of vertical gradients in lakes is relatively common, whereas horizontal gradients abound in deep canyon reservoirs. An example is the gradient of nutrients, the quantity of which decreases in the direction from the inflow towards the dam. Vertical abiotic gradients are the same for reservoirs and lakes. These are mainly gradients of light, heat, dissolved and oxygen. Some abiotic horizontal gradients may be present in both to reservoirs and lakes. The abiotic gradients also often affect the biotic ones. For example the gradient of nutrients affects the gradient of all organisms in the reservoir. Each species living in the reservoir prefers different type of environmental conditions, which may be given by a combination of these gradients. The areas preferred by particular cladoceran species can overlap quite extensively. In the Daphnia longispina species complex, co-occurrence of parental species may result in interspecific hybridization, and possibly formation of hybrid zones. The hybrids can often...
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