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Morphological and ecological differentiation and distribution of taxa in the Galium mollugo group
Talpová, Julie ; Kaplan, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Štech, Milan (referee)
My thesis deals with three taxa of the polyploid complex Galium mollugo that occur in the Czech Republic. These are diploid G. mollugo and tetraploid G. album subsp. album and G. album subsp. pycnotrichum. These taxa are very similar to each other, their identification is difficult and exact values of the quantitative characters used for their separation are unknown. To date, there has been no study based on flow cytometry (FCM) and classical morphometrics analysis in this complex. By using them I wanted to bring new results and fill the gaps in scientific research. Primarily, I was investigating whether the individual cytotypes can be distinguished based on different genome size using FCM analyses. Another aim was to determine whether it is possible to define morphological and ecological differences between diploid and tetraploid taxa. The morphometrics included ordination and discrimination methods. I observed whether taxa could be distinguished by the naked eye and determined by measurement which characters are most suitable for identification. FCM analyses proved to be suitable to distinguish the two ploidy levels. I have been able to demonstrate by statistical methods that diploid and tetraploid taxa differ from each other, and I have also refined the characters that are most suitable for...
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Hybridisation of cyprinid fishes in the Czech Republic: genetic and morphometric analysis of the subfamily Leuciscinae
Kaufman, Vít ; Musilová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Choleva, Lukáš (referee)
Hybridization is a process when two interspecific individuals mate and spawn. When backcrossing it often goes hand in hand with admixing unrelated genome into the genome of a species. Nowadays it is well established that hybridization is not as uncommon as it was believed. Especially in vertebrates fish are quite common in such phenomena. In Leuciscids, the family of order Cypriniformes is relatively frequent. It is a rife family in the European freshwater systems. Factors that contribute to such frequent hybridization are extraneous fertilization, sympatric occurrence, competition for spawning grounds, and other ecophysiological traits. It was known since the second half of 20th century that this is an ongoing phenomenon in many species of this family. Previous research was focused mainly on morphological traits. The relative pinnacle of such research was based on allozymic analysis. The goal of our project was to evaluate the level of hybridization in the main water bodies of the Czech Republic with the main focus on the detection of involved hybrid species, the level of such hybridization, and the phenotypic characterization of hybrid individuals. For that reason, it was sampled over 400 specimens giving a dataset of 381 individuals. Tissue samples were sampled for DNA isolation and each of the...
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Určování říčních populací lakušníku štítnatého (\kur{Ranunculus peltatus)}
DOLEJŠEK, Vojtěch
In some Czech rivers hybridogenous populations of pond water-crowfoot (Ranunculus peltatus) were detected. These populations are morphologicaly similar to the parental pond water-crowfoot and it is sometimes difficult to tell them apart. Such hybridogenous populations are not detectable via flow cytometry and are only detectable via sequencing. In this thesis I was trying to find out whether the hybridogenous populations could be clearly distinguished based on their morphology from the parental species pond water-crowfoot.
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An assessment of interspecific hybridization between Central-European taxa from the genus Nymphaea: insights from flow cytometry and multivariate morphometrics
Kabátová, Klára ; Suda, Jan (advisor) ; Rybka, Vlastimil (referee)
Although the genus Nymphaea (waterlily) includes only two native species (N. alba and N. candida) in Central Europe, it poses a great challenge to taxonomy and biosystematics. The determination of both species is hampered by their phenotypic similarities, and species boundaries can be further blurred by interspecific hybridization. In addition, ornamental cultivars of different parentage often escape from cultivation and make the situation even more complex. To get insight into the caryological and phenotypic variability of czech waterlilies, the DNA flow cytometry and both distance-based and geometric morphometrics were used. Collections showed two different groups of fluorescence intensities, corresponding to N. alba and N. candida, respectively. In addition, intermediate values of nuclear DNA amount were found in some plants from South Bohemia, indicating their hybrid origin. Surprisingly, ornamental cultivars possessed the smallest genome sizes. The amount of nuclear DNA therefore seems to be a promising species-specific marker that enables not only native species but also cultivars to be distinguished. Cytometrically-proven individuals have been subjected to multivariate morphometrics, and high differenciation was discovered especially between native species. More complicated seems the distinction...
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Differentiation in the polyploid complex Libanotis pyrenaica (Apiaceae)
Přívozníková, Hana ; Chrtek, Jindřich (advisor) ; Vít, Petr (referee)
Polyploidization belong to principal evolutionary mechanisms in plants. Although it is rather rare in the family Apiaceae, there are several interesting polyploid complexes here. The present study deals with Libanotis pyrenaica, species three previously reported ploidy levels, namely diploid (2n = 2x = 22), tetraploid (2n = 4 x = 44) and most likely very rare triploid (2n = 3x = 33). The present study aims at geographical pattern of ploidal diversity in central Europe, genetic variation and selected biological features of this species. Flow cytometru, analysis of two chloroplast DNA markers (trnF-trnL and cp018-cp020), morphometrics and in vitro germination experiments were used. The tetraploid cytotype occurs throughout the studied area; in the Czech Republic it was found in the České středohoří Mts., southern Bohemia and Moravia, in Slovakia it especially in the Carpathian mountains in western and central parts of the country and in the Pieniny Mts. in the northeast. Tetraploid cytotype occurs mainly in central-east Europe; in the Czech Republic it is common in the lowlands along the river of Labe and locally in Moravia; in Slovakia it was found along the river of Váh, in the Slovenské rudohorie Mts. and in the Belanské Tatry Mts. A mixed-ploidy population (2x, 4x) was discovered in southern...
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Dental phenotype variation in voles during the present glacial cycle
Putalová, Tereza ; Horáček, Ivan (advisor) ; Kuneš, Petr (referee)
The phenotype dynamics of arvicolid rodents during the terminal stages of the Vistualian glacial and the earliest Holocene was investigated with aid of a detailed morphometric analyses of extensive dental material from three sedimentary series of that age. The particular attention was paid to the record from a section in Býčí skála cave, Moravian karst, which demonstrated details of the Pleistocene/Holocene transition (12.4-8.4 ky BP) with extraordinary resolution. It revealed that dramatic rearrangements in community structure were accompanied by significant rearrangements of the phenotype dynamics in all arvicolid species. Despite some trends specific for particular species, some common features were identified as well. One of them was a rapid turnover in phenotype structure by the end of Younger Dryas, at time of the Preboreal event. (11.7-11 ky BP), the other was associated with the extensive shifts in community structure and habitat diversity at terminal stage of the Preboreal (9.7-9.3 ky). The core arvicolid species of Preboreal communities, Clethrionomys glareolus, Microtus arvalis, M.agrestis and Arvicola terrestris, exhibited repeated fluctuations during that stage (ll-9,3 ky BP) both in abundance and phenotype characteristics, supposedly related to serial invasion events during that time....
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Postnatal Ontogenesis of the Skull of the Pond Slider Turtle (Trachemys scripta)
Čtrnáctová, Lenka ; Brejcha, Jindřich (advisor) ; Soukup, Vladimír (referee)
This thesis focuses on the descriptive analysis of skull morphology of the pond slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans). The general approach was an osteological preparation of the skulls and photographic documentation (following standardised procedures) of a larger sample of specimens. The collected data was used as a background for subsequent GMM analyses. Main hypotheses of this project were: 1) the skull of T. s. elegans is sexually dimorphic; 2) the skull of T. s. elegans constitutes of several independent modules. The objective of this thesis was therefore to describe the postnatal ontogenesis of the model taxon and to determine the developmental trends of its cranial structures. It was shown that the skull of T. s. elegans is sexually dimorphic in shape mainly due to differences in allometric growth. These differences probably reflect different nutritional requirements. The skull of T. s. elegans is formed out of four modules. These are: facial, central, basicranial, and possibly also zygomatic-pterygoideal modules.
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Phylogenetic, morphological and ecological context of microevolution in pennate diatoms
Veselá, Jana ; Neustupa, Jiří (advisor) ; Řeháková, Klára (referee) ; Vanormelingen, Pieter (referee)
Visual assessment of discontinuities in the morphological features of diatom cells has been widely used in the discovery and delimitation of diatom species. However, a multidisciplinary approach to species-level taxonomy has revealed hidden diversity within the traditional diatom morphospecies. Consequently, this work examined both the natural and clonal populations of diatoms by diverse traditional and modern approaches, in order to assess the diversity, ecology, and distribution of diatom species. Although a detailed investigation of natural diatom samples was confounded by uncertain morphological boundaries between the traditional diatom species, it recognized that the diversity was relatively high; even one new diatom species was described using the morphological species concept. The multivariate statistical analyses showed that the variation of natural communities of traditional diatom morphospecies reflected differences in the local environmental conditions, as well as microhabitat heterogenity within a region. Since each diatom morphospecies is most likely a complex of sibling species, the two model traditional morphospecies were investigated, in order to assess morphological variation, genetic diversity, and/or the reproductive compatibility of monoclonal cultures. Even though isolated...
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Genetic diversity and evolutionary history of Czech endemic taxa from the genus Dianthus
Kalůsková, Jana ; Suda, Jan (advisor) ; Chrtek, Jindřich (referee)
Abstract This MSc. thesis deals with karyological, genetic and phenotypic variation of selected taxa from the genus Dianthus L. in the Czech Republic and adjacent countries. The evolutionary history of the genus has been shaped by several microevolutionary processes, including interspecific hybridization, genome duplication, and edaphic speciation. These processes led to the origin of a number of phenotypically similar taxa, which are often restricted to a narrow geographic area. One subendemic and three endemic taxa occur in the Czech Republic. These (sub)species were used as model groups to gain insight into microevolutionary processes in small populations and the postglacial development of the genus in Central Europe. The thesis consists of three parts, each addressing different evolutionary phenomenon: Dianthus arenarius subsp. bohemicus is a critically endangered endemic psammophyte currently known from a single population in Central Bohemia. The site is also inhabited by widespread D. carthusianorum. Interspecific hybridization has been suspected on the basis of morphological characters, but this has never been confirmed by any other technique. I exploited differences in the number of chromosomes between both species and, with the aid of DAPI flow cytometry, estimated relative DNA contents of...
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Variation of the species Urtica dioica in Central Europe
Rejlová, Ludmila ; Urfus, Tomáš (advisor) ; Mandák, Bohumil (referee)
Although the European flora belongs to the best explored at the global scale, still there are several largely neglected plant groups, which may surprise by marked variation. One of these groups is Urtica dioica s. l., consisting of vaguely described taxa (microspecies / subspecies) with indefinite distribution. The most important source of variation in U. dioica s. l. is probably polyploidy (2x, 4x; x = 13). The complex comprises an ubiquitous tetraploid cytotype (U. dioica s. str.) and several obscurely defined relict 2x taxa. The cytogeographical analysis through Europe (770 populations / over 3 200 individuals) revealed marked distribution pattern of U. dioica s. l. cytotypes. We identified 106 diploid populations (13%) and 633 (82%) tetraploid populations. For the first time we detected triploid and pentaploid level (from mixed populations). Prevailing tetraploid U. dioica s. str. is predominantly synanthropic, whereas diploid taxa strictly occur in primary and relict habitats (primarily alluvial forests, tundra, Mediterranean mountains). The analysis of the absolute genome size of individuals from U. dioica clade and other closely related taxa showed different values of 2x U. kioviensis (19 % higher than 2x U. d. subsp. subinermis) and 2x U. bianorii (33% higher than 2x U. d. subsp....
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