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Sexual promiscuity, cryptic female choice and the biology of passerine sperm
Míčková, Kristýna ; Albrecht, Tomáš (advisor) ; Vrbacký, Marek (referee) ; Krist, Miloš (referee)
The discovery of postcopulatory mechanisms of mate choice has fundamentally altered our understanding of sexual selection. Passerines are an ideal group for studying two basic mechanisms of postcopulatory sexual selection, sperm competition and cryptic female choice. This doctoral thesis focuses on postcopulatory sexual selection in passerines from three different angles. In this study, we investigated (1) age-related changes in traits that can affect male reproductive success (sperm morphology, velocity and production) and a trade-off between these traits and lifespan in male barn swallows (Hirundo rustica); (2) variation in seminal fluid and sperm proteins in six selected passerine species and whether these differences are caused by phylogeny or postcopulatory sexual selection; and (3) the protein composition of female barn swallow cloacal fluids in four phases of the reproductive season, changes in protein composition in individual phases, and identification of phase-specific proteins. Our results show that there is no unified trend for changes in sperm traits or sperm production across male lifespan. While sperm morphology and velocity do not change considerably, sperm production increases in first years of life. However, excessive investment in sperm production could reduce the male's chances...
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Genetic factors in the etiology of sleep disorders
Dvořáková, Markéta ; Šolc, Roman (advisor) ; Červená, Kateřina (referee)
Sleep disorders are a group of disorders affecting a considerable part of proportion of the human population. Their aetiology is usually very complex and includes environmental and genetic factors. The nature of these disorders is often multifactorial. Sleep medicine and the field of synthesis of its findings with those of modern or classical genetics still offer quite a huge possibilities of research. However, despite many unresponsed questions, it is now possible to summarise the identified confirmed or suspected genes whose mutations are involved in the causes of these disorders. It is possible to estimate the heritability of certain disorders based on their multiple occurrence in families, presence in twins or prevalence in the population across different ethnics. This bachelor thesis focuses on genetic aspects in the etiology of sleep disorders, their heritability, the strength of the genetic component, and genetic links between some of the disorders.
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Analysis of primary photosynthetic processes in conifers: A comparison of selected methods and their possible utilisation for the study of genetic variability
Palovská, Markéta ; Holá, Dana (advisor) ; Albrechtová, Jana (referee)
Conifers are important both ecologically and socioeconomically, however, same parts of their biology are not that well researched. This includes genetics and breeding and partly even physiology. Because quantitative genetic analyzes applied in breeding necessitate an analysis of a large number of samples, and conventional methods of analysis are quite time-consuming, certain parameters describing e.g. the activity of photosynthetic electron-transport chain (ETC) are considered for such use. Several methods of the measurement of the activity of photosynthetic ETC exist, but there are some problems with their usage in conifers. I studied this issue from different points of view in three parts of this thesis. 1) I compared the photosynthetic ETC activity in 8 species of conifers using chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence measurements on intact needles and polarographic measurements in isolated chloroplasts. Each method brought different information. 2) I measured Chl fluorescence parameters, reflectance spectra and pigment content in 536 genetically defined trees of Pinus sylvestris L. Many parameters showed relatively high genetic variability and heritability. I have also determined the suitability of various reflectance indices to estimate pigment and water content of needles. 3) I have optimized the...
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Influence of biological relatedness on human palatal form and shape
Vilímková, Eva ; Velemínská, Jana (advisor) ; Borský, Jiří (referee)
This diploma theses deals with the effect of biological relatedness on the morphology of the human palate. So far, the effect of heredity on the morphology of the palate has been studied mainly in connection with clefts, there are not many studies dealing with the morphology of a healthy palate. Within this work, two goals were set. The first was to evaluate the variability of the palatal morphology of biologically related individuals compared to the variability of the palatal morphology of unrelated individuals. The second goal was to evaluate the effect of biological relatedness on palatal morphology. The material for this theses were two samples - a sample of biologically related individuals and a sample of unrelated individuals as a control group. The genealogically documented sample consists of 65 plaster casts of the upper jaw of mutually related individuals of the Czech population. This sample includes 33 men and 32 women. The average age in the sample is 37,65 years. The sample of unrelated individuals includes 52 virtual 3D models of a hard palate. This sample consists of 23 men and 29 women. The average age in this sample is 19,27 years. This theses combines methods of geometric morphometrics and linear regression models. The plaster casts of the upper jaws were first scanned with a 3D...
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Kinship relationships and morphological features of the human skeleton in genealogically documented osteological assemblages: use in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology.
Cvrček, Jan ; Velemínský, Petr (advisor) ; Stingl, Josef (referee) ; Beňuš, Radoslav (referee)
The influence of biological relationships on the morphology of the human skeleton is a current theme in bioarchaeology and forensic research. Whether it is the discovery of kinship relationships in an anonymous cemetery or the question of individual identification based on familial similarity, research is limited by a number of factors. Above all, there is the shortage of osteological assemblages with genealogical documentation. Most such samples also include only a small number of individuals, and thus the number of different degrees of their relatedness is limited. Related to this is the lack or absence of methods suitable for either the exact expression of the degree of morphological similarity between individuals or the statistical evaluation of results. However, for this dissertation an opportunity arose to analyze several osteological assemblages with genealogical documentation from the 17th to 20th centuries, comprising almost one hundred individuals. This represents one of the largest such units in the world to date. The individual samples also include several cases of consanguineous marriages with subsequent generations. The aim of the first part of the dissertation is to propose new methodological approaches to expressing the degree of similarity of individuals based on different types of...
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Assortative mating in Endler's Livebearer
SCHAFFELHOFEROVÁ, Dana
The thesis deals with assortative behaviour of Poecilia wingei. The aims of the thesis are to describe character traits of fish and their heritability, then set breeding pairs of Endler's Livebearer (Poecilia wingei) and to determine their traits (shy or bold). After that, the offspring generation of such pairs was bred and their personal traits were determined too. Finally a comparison of the parents and the offspring generation was carried out and the heritability was analyzed. The traits were analyzed using the Open Field test. Fifty pairs of the parent generation were measured, coupled into pairs according to their traits. After that the offspring generation was measured too. The intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated, determining the share of the total phenotypic variance that is conditioned by the variability of genetic information in the population. The results were analysed using Statistica 12. The comparisons of the results revealed the heritability of the traits.
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The role of genetics in the pathogenesis of \kur{diabetes mellitus}
BRÁZDOVÁ, Sára
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease, which is caused by enrivonmental and genetic factors. This disease is characterised by elevated glucose levels in the blood. Diabetes is divided into two main types. Diabetes type I. is the autoimmune reaction of the organism. It's genetic predisposition is mainly based on the HLA complex II. class. Diabetes type II. is represented by impaired insulin secretion or action. Genetic predisposition of this type is very various.
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Analysis of primary photosynthetic processes in conifers: A comparison of selected methods and their possible utilisation for the study of genetic variability
Palovská, Markéta ; Holá, Dana (advisor) ; Albrechtová, Jana (referee)
Conifers are important both ecologically and socioeconomically, however, same parts of their biology are not that well researched. This includes genetics and breeding and partly even physiology. Because quantitative genetic analyzes applied in breeding necessitate an analysis of a large number of samples, and conventional methods of analysis are quite time-consuming, certain parameters describing e.g. the activity of photosynthetic electron-transport chain (ETC) are considered for such use. Several methods of the measurement of the activity of photosynthetic ETC exist, but there are some problems with their usage in conifers. I studied this issue from different points of view in three parts of this thesis. 1) I compared the photosynthetic ETC activity in 8 species of conifers using chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence measurements on intact needles and polarographic measurements in isolated chloroplasts. Each method brought different information. 2) I measured Chl fluorescence parameters, reflectance spectra and pigment content in 536 genetically defined trees of Pinus sylvestris L. Many parameters showed relatively high genetic variability and heritability. I have also determined the suitability of various reflectance indices to estimate pigment and water content of needles. 3) I have optimized the...
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A potency of heritability demonstration in a classroom aquarium longterm experiment
ZAHRADNÍKOVÁ, Milena
The bachelor thesis is focused on a heritability of a development rate in a semiaquatic bug Microvelia reticulata (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha) as a model species of an aquatic organism. The main aim of this study was to estimate the heritability and evaluate if such experiment can be proceeded in a school conditions. A nested full-sib / half-sib design was used for the experiment. This setting is based on an analysis of several offspring of a unique mother and a father shared among several groups of siblings. The final estimate of a heritability is low (h2 = -0.03; SE = 0.25), offspring thus do not share a development rate with their parents. This long-term experiment is not appropriate for school conditions because of an extreme daily-care demands and unpersuasive results.
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