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Gonadal development during the lifetime of the fastest maturing model vertebrate- turquoise killifish (Nothobrachius furzerí)
LANDOVÁ, Magdaléna
Turquoise killifish had to adapt to the inhospitable conditions in which they live, especially drying temporal water bodies, which means certain death. The life sprint of the representatives of this genus is at its peak within one-month post-hatching, when both sexes have fully developed gonads and can reproduce. This rate comes with a high cost, as the killifish gonads begin to show signs of tissue degradation and germ cell apoptosis as early as three months post-hatching. Germ cell loss increases with age. A description of the development and degradation of the gonads in males and their breeding was elaborated. For the evaluation of aging-specific changes, immunochemical methods were used, focusing on the binding of specific antibodies against target epitopes and their visualization using fluorescence microscopy. Procedures for histological specimens have also been described, both for classical light and fluorescence microscopy.
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Functional analysis of the piRNA pathway in golden hamsters
Loubalová, Zuzana ; Svoboda, Petr (advisor) ; Haase, Astrid D. (referee) ; Ketting, René (referee)
The piRNA pathway is a highly conserved mechanism that regulates gene and retrotransposon expression at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Defects in the piRNA pathway impair germ cell development in animals from invertebrates to mammals. In mammals, the current knowledge of the piRNA pathway has been mainly built from mouse model studies. The mouse model suggests that the piRNA pathway is dispensable for mammalian female germline. However, mouse differs from other mammals in several important aspects. It lacks PIWIL3, one of four PIWI proteins found in other mammals, and has a highly active RNA interference in mouse oocytes, which points towards a unique combination of small RNA pathways in the mouse female germline. These specific modifications of small RNA pathways in mice could obscure the biological significance of the mammalian piRNA pathway. My Ph.D. project aimed at investigating the importance of the piRNA pathway in mammals and analyzing conserved and derived aspects of this pathway. As golden hamsters encode all mammalian PIWI proteins and likely lack highly active RNA interference in oocytes, they represent mammalian small RNA pathways closer than mice. Therefore, we generated a golden hamster knock-out of MOV10L1 helicase, an essential factor in piRNA biogenesis. We...
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Gametogenesis and Fertilization in Humans
Crhová, Michaela ; Pavlasová, Lenka (advisor) ; Ehler, Edvard (referee)
This bachelor thesis summarises the topic of gametogenesis and fertilization in humans. A search in available literature was performed. The thesis concisely describes the cell cycle and cell division. The main focus is on meiosis, a reductional division that takes the lead part in sexual reproduction. The process of this division is described in detail, and also the mechanism that creates variability of protected cells is described. The product of meiosis is gametes, also known as germ cells. Production of these cells is a key moment in sexual reproduction. This thesis approaches this topic in the context of evolutionary biology and explains its importance in the survival of species on Earth. The main topic of the thesis is the production and maturing of human germ cells. This process is called gametogenesis. This thesis provides a cohesive description of the reproduction system of both sexes and describes the gradual maturing of the germ cells in gonads. The structure of both gametes, egg, and sperm is described with emphasis on the parts of these cells that take part in the process of fertilization. Female reproductive cycles are depicted, and their connection is explained. In contrast to this periodicity, the male continual maturing is also explained. This thesis compares the main differences in...
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Juvenile hormone signaling in insect development and reproduction
SMÝKAL, Vlastimil
This thesis comprises three published papers and one manuscript, all focused on the role of juvenile hormone (JH), the JH receptor Methoprene-tolerant (Met) and its target gene Krüppel-homolog 1 (Kr-h1) in insect development and reproduction. The JH-Met-Kr-h1 pathway is critical for metamorphic transition in hemimetabolan Pyrrhocoris apterus (Hemiptera) and holometabolan Bombyx mori (Lepidoptera) but seems to be dispensable during early larval postembryonic development. The results also show that Met and its heterodimeric partner Taiman (Tai) but not Kr-h1 are critical for ovarian development and vitellogenesis in Pyrrhocoris females. In vitro, in vivo and cell-based techniques in Drosophila melanogaster have demonstrated that Met and its paralog Gce are a bona fide receptor for JH. Only Gce capable of binding JH rescued Drosophila deficient for Met and Gce proteins, and the capacity of Gce to bind JH was necessary for JH-dependent transcriptional activation by Gce and Tai.
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Oogenesis in long-lived water bug Velia caprai (Heteroptera: Gerromorpha: Veliidae)
MÁLKOVÁ, Karolína
This thesis presents results of the histological study of oogenesis in the nymphs of 5th instar, variously aged adult females of known age and adult females of Velia caprai ((Heteroptera: Gerromorpha: Veliidae) of unknown age that were collected in the field. Oogonia in the germarium and the first oocytes that are forming in previtellarium were observed in the nymphs of the 5th instar. Their vitellarium is empty. The first vitellogenetic oocytes appear in vitellarium of ovarioles at 7 days old adult females. Oocytes in advanced stage of vitellogenesis were observed at 25 days old adult females. The secretion of chorion starts at 42 days old adult females. Advanced stage of oogenesis (fully chorionated eggs) was found at 60 days old adult females, at adult females collected in the field, during the period September ? November (2009), and at adult females after overwintering. Females of Velia caprai reach sexual maturity before overwintering, their eggs can be fertilized by spermatozoa from own spermatheca. These females can lay eggs from autumn to the spring. After reaching sexual maturity of adult females, oogenesis of this species seems to be continual.
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