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Genome size variation in microalgae and its evolutionary consequences
Čertnerová, Dora
Eukaryotic organisms exhibit tremendous variability in genome size with no apparent connection to their biological complexity. Although this variation is known to correlate with numerous phenotypic traits, its evolutionary consequences remain widely unknown. This particularly applies to microalgae, where the genome size estimation is often methodologically challenging. Yet, microalgae represent a promising model group to study genome size evolution owing to their lower body complexity, short generation time and large population sizes, the latter two allowing them to quickly respond to environmental challenges. The main aim of this thesis was to enhance our understanding of genome size variation in microalgae and its evolutionary consequences. To do so, together with my co-authors, I summarized the flow cytometry (FCM) protocols used for microalgae and microorganisms possessing small genomes and addressed their limitations resulting mainly from insufficient amounts of biomass, difficulties with nuclei extraction and prominent background noise due to presence of various pigments and secondary metabolites. Further, I provided best practice recommendations that include, among others, analysing young cultures, avoiding long-term cultivation, and testing different isolation buffers and nuclei isolation...
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Genome size variation in microalgae and its evolutionary consequences
Čertnerová, Dora ; Škaloud, Pavel (advisor) ; Boenigk, Jens (referee) ; Bureš, Petr (referee)
Eukaryotic organisms exhibit tremendous variability in genome size with no apparent connection to their biological complexity. Although this variation is known to correlate with numerous phenotypic traits, its evolutionary consequences remain widely unknown. This particularly applies to microalgae, where the genome size estimation is often methodologically challenging. Yet, microalgae represent a promising model group to study genome size evolution owing to their lower body complexity, short generation time and large population sizes, the latter two allowing them to quickly respond to environmental challenges. The main aim of this thesis was to enhance our understanding of genome size variation in microalgae and its evolutionary consequences. To do so, together with my co-authors, I summarized the flow cytometry (FCM) protocols used for microalgae and microorganisms possessing small genomes and addressed their limitations resulting mainly from insufficient amounts of biomass, difficulties with nuclei extraction and prominent background noise due to presence of various pigments and secondary metabolites. Further, I provided best practice recommendations that include, among others, analysing young cultures, avoiding long-term cultivation, and testing different isolation buffers and nuclei isolation...
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Evolution of silica structures in SAR protists
Čížková, Natálie ; Čertnerová, Dora (advisor) ; Kulichová, Jana (referee)
Silicon is an important element in the earth's crust. In nature it mainly occurs in the form of silicic acid. This element is used by marine and freshwater organisms to form their siliceous structures. The organisms that make up these structures are located throughout the phylogenetic tree and are not limited just to protist groups. The SAR line includes Stramenopila, Alveolata and Rhizaria. The main protist taxa forming the mentioned siliceous structures are in these groups. These are mainly diatoms, silicoflagellates, radiolarians and the group chrysophyceae. The formation of siliceous structures usually provides evolutionary benefits to organisms, such as protection of the cell from actions of biotic and abiotic factors. The availability of dissolved silicon changed during evolution, thus affecting the appearance and functionality of the structures of individual species. Structural changes were manifested by thinning of the shells, change of cell size, enlargement or decrease of pores, increase of the number of thorns or, conversely, their loss. The individual lines thus had to choose the best possible strategies in response to the decreasing availability of silicic acid. Therefore, there was frequent competition between the groups for the remaining dissolved silicon. The current diversity of...
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