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Wood wide web - plant mycelial interconnections
Antl, Tomáš ; Vohník, Martin (advisor) ; Kolaříková, Zuzana (referee)
Mycorrhizal mycelium may form a continuous network (commnon mycorrhizal network - CMN) and connect a number of plants or even entire community in an ecosystem. In the Plant World, CMNs have a number of important physiological and ecological consequences. The present work aims to create a review on current knowledge of CMNs and the associated Wood Wide Web. The next objective is to evaluate the results of individual observations and experiments that have been made on this topic. The introductory chapters 1 and 2 describe the various types of mycorrhizal symbioses (i.e., arbuscular mycorrhiza, orchid mycorrhiza, ectomycorrhiza, ericoid and monotropoid mycorrhiza), their characteristics and ability to create CMNs. The following chapters 3 and 4 describe ecophysiological consequences of common mycorrhizal networks such as maintaining stability of plant populations, invasive plants which exploit CMNs, plant communities and the hypothesis of meta-networks. Mycorrhizal mycelium allows transfer of various substances between two plants. The transferred substances include mineral nutrients (especially nitrogen and phosphorus), but also carbon organic compounds, water, signal substances, etc. The last part summarizes the knowledge on CMN, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different experimental...
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The importance of mycorrhizal fungi in primary succession
Nevěčná, Michaela ; Münzbergová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Püschel, David (referee)
Primary succession is a relatively long-term process of colonization of a certain area, which has never been influenced by any biotic environmental elements. There are many factors that influence primary succession. One of them are mycorrhizal fungi. Establishment of mycorrhizal symbiosis, i. e. a mutualistic relationship between plants and mycorrhizal fungi, can be an important factor facilitating development of vegetation cover. Plants profit from mycorrhizal symbiosis thanks to increased nutrient acquisition, protection against toxic heavy metals or an advantage in a competition with non-mycorrhizal plants. Being non-photosynthetic organisms, fungi gain assimilates from the plants. Modification of the course of primary succession by adding mycorrhizal fungi can have a big importance in reclamation of the areas damaged by mining and there is a potential to substitute, at least partly, technical reclamations.
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The effect of invasive and native plants on abiotic and biotic soil properties
Hanzelková, Věra ; Aldorfová, Anna (advisor) ; Sudová, Radka (referee)
Invasive plants represent an important topic of study in current ecology because of their effects on whole ecosystems. The plants interact with the soil including soil biota, with the other plants in the community and with other organisms, eg. herbivores. Invasive plants often differ from non- invasive plants in nutrient utilization and can thus affect soil pH as well. They may also differ in the way they interact with mycorrhizal fungi that help the plants with nutrient uptake. In this study, the effect of invasive and native plants on soil properties is compared. Congeneric pairs of species, where one species is native and the other invasive, are compared. The native species are chosen so that they are dominant and therefore comparable to the invasive plants in the new environment. The evaluated soil properties are pH value and content of elemental nutrients from abiotic properties, and the amount of mycorrhizal fungi propagules and their spreading rate in soil from the biotic properties. In this study, the invasive and native plants differ only in the content of exchangeable phosphorus and potassium. Content of these two nutrients and one of the indicators of mycorrhizal fungi differ within the pairs of species as well. For most soil properties, the genus of the plant plays the main role, not...
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Ecophysiological significance of root-fungus symbioses in Mediterranean seagrasses
Borovec, Ondřej ; Vohník, Martin (advisor) ; Gryndler, Milan (referee)
Seagrasses are the only group of submerged plants that are permanently growing in marine environment. They play an important role in the sea bottom ecosystem. Seagrasses are primary producers capable of accumulation and deposition of carbon. They influence water flow at the sea bottom and form symbioses with variety of organisms. Our knowledge of symbiotic interactions of seagrasses is still limited even though several studies of the topic have been carried out in recent years. Unlike most of terrestrial plants, seagrasses are generally considered as plants that do not form any specific associations with mycorrhizal or endophytic fungi. Surprisingly, we have discovered a novel fungal endophytic association in roots of Mediterranean endemic seagrass species Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile. Morphology of this symbiotic fungi strongly resembles common symbiotic fungi of terrestrial plants, dark septate endophytes (DSE). We sampled roots of P. oceanica in large area of the Mediterranean from southeastern Spain to Albania and described range and taxonomical classification of the endophyte using microscopy, in vitro cultivation and molecular determination. Roots of P. oceanica in whole area of study are colonized by mere two endophytic fungal species. Over 90 % of the fungal symbionts belong to a single...
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Mycorrhizal and endophytic roots of aquatic plants
Borovec, Ondřej ; Vohník, Martin (advisor) ; Kolařík, Miroslav (referee)
Interactions between fungi and plants can be found all around us. We would hardly find a plant neither containing a single hypha in its rhizosphere nor infested with a fungal pathogen. Whereas interactions of these organisms are well and described in terrestrial ecosystems, situation below the water level is completely different. The status of aquatic fungi and their relation to aquatic plants is to date not clear at all regarding difficulties of reaching them and huge value of terrestric interactions, which occupy most of the experts. All the basic plant-fungus interactions have been detected also underwater. As well as on the land, the most widespread aquatic mycorrhizal association is arbuscular mycorrhiza. On the contrary, the other well known mycorrhiza types such as orchid or ericoid mycorrhiza do not occur in the aquatic environment where their hosts are absent. On the other hand, endophytism is relatively frequent. Ascomycetous fungi with dark septate hyphae, collectively being referred to as "dark septate endophytes" (DSE), seem to be as abundant in the water as on the land. Additionally, aquatic plants are being challenged by numerous fungal parasites. AMF may play an important role in nutrient uptake of some plants from the aquatic environment. However, many species of aquatic plants are...
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Orchids as a model for research in ecophysiological adaptations of mycoheterotropic plants
Ponert, Jan ; Lipavská, Helena (advisor) ; Gryndler, Milan (referee) ; Chrtek, Jindřich (referee)
Perhaps all orchids are mycotrophic at early developmental stages, while majority of species photosynthesize at adulthood and only about 200 species remain fully mycotrophic for the whole life. Mycotrophy affects orchids at many levels. In this thesis, I focus on four aspects of orchid biology, which could be connected with mycotrophy: (i) systematics, (ii) genome size and endoreduplication, (iii) regulation of seed germination and (iv) mechanism of transfer of carbon and energy from fungi to orchids. There are over 27,000 recently recognized orchid species, nevertheless new ones are still discovering and old ones are revisiting. In this work I present a description of new species, Cleisostoma yersinii, and its morphological, anatomical, ecological and systematic characterization. Phylogeny reconstruction confirmed relationship with C. birmanicum. In the subtribe Podochileae, I reappraised the genus Campanulorchis to establish monophyletic but also morphologically defined group. For both abovementioned genera I prepared the artificial identification key. In the genus Dactylorhiza I revised taxa present in our country and I prepared an identification key which firstly mentions D. maculata subsp. elodes from Czech Republic. Orchid species diversity is probably reflected in genome structure. Results...
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The effect of invasive and native plants on abiotic and biotic soil properties
Hanzelková, Věra ; Aldorfová, Anna (advisor) ; Sudová, Radka (referee)
Invasive plants represent an important topic of study in current ecology because of their effects on whole ecosystems. The plants interact with the soil including soil biota, with the other plants in the community and with other organisms, eg. herbivores. Invasive plants often differ from non- invasive plants in nutrient utilization and can thus affect soil pH as well. They may also differ in the way they interact with mycorrhizal fungi that help the plants with nutrient uptake. In this study, the effect of invasive and native plants on soil properties is compared. Congeneric pairs of species, where one species is native and the other invasive, are compared. The native species are chosen so that they are dominant and therefore comparable to the invasive plants in the new environment. The evaluated soil properties are pH value and content of elemental nutrients from abiotic properties, and the amount of mycorrhizal fungi propagules and their spreading rate in soil from the biotic properties. In this study, the invasive and native plants differ only in the content of exchangeable phosphorus and potassium. Content of these two nutrients and one of the indicators of mycorrhizal fungi differ within the pairs of species as well. For most soil properties, the genus of the plant plays the main role, not...
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Orchids as a model for research in ecophysiological adaptations of mycoheterotropic plants
Ponert, Jan ; Lipavská, Helena (advisor) ; Gryndler, Milan (referee) ; Chrtek, Jindřich (referee)
Perhaps all orchids are mycotrophic at early developmental stages, while majority of species photosynthesize at adulthood and only about 200 species remain fully mycotrophic for the whole life. Mycotrophy affects orchids at many levels. In this thesis, I focus on four aspects of orchid biology, which could be connected with mycotrophy: (i) systematics, (ii) genome size and endoreduplication, (iii) regulation of seed germination and (iv) mechanism of transfer of carbon and energy from fungi to orchids. There are over 27,000 recently recognized orchid species, nevertheless new ones are still discovering and old ones are revisiting. In this work I present a description of new species, Cleisostoma yersinii, and its morphological, anatomical, ecological and systematic characterization. Phylogeny reconstruction confirmed relationship with C. birmanicum. In the subtribe Podochileae, I reappraised the genus Campanulorchis to establish monophyletic but also morphologically defined group. For both abovementioned genera I prepared the artificial identification key. In the genus Dactylorhiza I revised taxa present in our country and I prepared an identification key which firstly mentions D. maculata subsp. elodes from Czech Republic. Orchid species diversity is probably reflected in genome structure. Results...
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Utilization of trehalose in orchids: evolution of trehalase genes
Šoch, Jan ; Ponert, Jan (advisor) ; Hála, Michal (referee)
All orchid species studied so far have been shown to participate in orchideoid mycorrhizal symbiosis. Morover, this symbiosis is absolutely vital component of their life cycle. Exchange of nutrients occurs between symbionts where the fungi provides the orchid with energy and carbon supply at least in its early developmental stages. This study focuses on the possible role of trehalose in this transfer. In vitro experiments have showed in five species from three different subfamilies of Orchidaceae family that they can utilize trehalose comparably with sucrose and glucose. Thus, the ability of trehalose utilization seems to be conserved among orchids. Trehalase enzyme activity was localized histochemically in orchid mycorrhizas. The activity strongly colocalized with colonized tissue supporting a hypothesis that trehalose transfer occurs in this site and is mediated by trehalase. Using bioinformatic methods, trehalase gene duplications were identified in many taxons of Embryophyta including three orchid species. Interestingly, highest number of trehalase gene copies was identified in genome of orchid Dactylorhiza majalis. Trehalose utilization, high trehalase activity in mycorrhizas and trehalase gene duplications in some orchids together indicate that trehalose transfer in orchid myccorhizas...
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