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Photobiont dynamics of Stereocaulon lichens
Vančurová, Lucie ; Škaloud, Pavel (advisor) ; Bérešová, Anna (referee) ; Dal Grande, Francesco (referee)
7 Abstract Lichens are an iconic example of symbiosis. They are widespread throughout the world. In some ecosystems, lichens are dominant autotrophs, sometimes one of the few living organisms capable of surviving local conditions. They grow on a variety of substrata, including artificial surfaces. Great diversity of their life strategies is related to the diversity of symbiotic partners forming the lichen thalli, which remains largely unresearched. Lichens as sessile organisms often have to face a changing environment or adapt to conditions at new localities where their propagules can spread. We have chosen the widespread genus Stereocaulon as a model system for studying symbiotic relationships in lichens and the connection of this relationships with environmental conditions. The main goals of this thesis were (1) to uncover the diversity of phycobionts (i.e., green algal photobionts) associated with Stereocaulon within the whole genus and particular species-level lineages; (2) to identify environmental factors affecting the distribution of phycobionts and their relationships with mycobionts on a global and local scale; and (3) to inspect the possibility of sharing phycobiont pool with other lichens and soil. For this purpose, we used phylogenetic analyses (ITS rDNA, 18S rDNA, rbcL, and actin type I gene),...
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Specification of the geothermic model in the environs of several selected boreholes
Čápová, Lucie ; Dědeček, Petr (advisor) ; Procházka, Martin (referee)
With the advances in research of the Hot Dry Rock environment and Enhanced Geothermal Systems, geothermal energy is soon going to compete with other unconventional energy resources in Europe where Germany and France are pushing the research ahead. In the Czech Republic, the geothermal exploration borehole drilled in Litoměřice in 2006 - 2007 provided information that contributed greatly to the understanding of geothermic conditions in the country. In addition to Litoměřice, two other areas have been recently subject to geothermal exploration: Semily and Liberec. These three areas have been studied in detail in this Master's thesis to assess their geothermal potential. Information on the geology of the selected areas was gathered from numerous scientific papers and reports and was compared with information from geological maps and boreholes. On the basis of this information, geological sections of the area of Litoměřice and Semily were compiled. Drill core samples from five boreholes from the geological units in the areas under investigation were collected and measured using the Lippmann & Rauen Thermal Conductivity Scanner. Thermal conductivity of geological units inferred in the basement but not intersected in the boreholes was estimated on the basis of values presented in literature. Finally,...
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Mechanisms of Activation and Modulation of Ion Channels Specific for Nociceptive Neurones
Touška, Filip ; Vlachová, Viktorie (advisor) ; Paleček, Jiří (referee) ; Tureček, Rostislav (referee)
Human body detects potentially damaging stimuli by specialized sensory nerve endings in the skin, the nociceptors. Their membranes are equipped with ion channels, molecular sensors, coding the outside stimuli into the trains of action potentials and conducting them to the higher brain centers. The most prominent group of transduction ion channels is the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel family followed by ion channels responsible for generation and conduction of action potentials from the periphery to the brain, the voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs). Understanding the mechanisms how particular stimulus is encoded and processed is of particular importance to find therapeutics for various types of pain conditions. We characterized the properties of VGSC subtypes NaV1.9 and NaV1.8 at high temperatures. We showed that NaV1.9 undergo large increase in current with increasing temperatures and significantly contribute to the action potential generation in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Ciguatoxins (CTXs) are sodium channels activator toxins causing ciguatera fish poisoning, a disease manifested by sensory and neurological disturbances. We elucidated the mechanism of CTX- induced cold allodynia, a pathological phenomenon where normally innocuous cool temperatures are perceived as pain. We...
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Are there any temperature related changes in morphological integration of Micrasterias cells?
Buchtová, Edith ; Neustupa, Jiří (advisor) ; Kleisner, Karel (referee)
Micrasterias rotata is a phylogenetically and morphologically well defined species that is widely distributed in Central Europe in a broad temperature gradient. For its complex cell shape Micrasterias rotata is a suitable model organism for cell morphogenesis research. This thesis investigated whether there could be a different pattern in morphological integration resulting from the temperature stress in Micrasterias rotata cells cultivated on a temperature gradient. The optimum and a limits of growth on the temperature gradient were related to the sampling locations of the studied strains isolated from a lowland wetland and an high alpine lake. Differences in the growth rates among the strains suggested a local adaptation to the climatic conditions of the original locations but relatively high values of the assumed optimum growth temperature suggested an intra- species evolutionary adaptation. The temperature-related size reduction rule was not confirmed; however, a similar pattern of variation in shape occurred in both strains. The morphological integration analysis has basically confirmed that the Micrasterias cell is composed of a number of morphological modules related to its differentiation into the lobes and sublobes. Integration between the lobes of the opposite semicell was primarily...
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Specification of the geothermic model in the environs of several selected boreholes
Čápová, Lucie ; Dědeček, Petr (advisor) ; Procházka, Martin (referee)
With the advances in research of the Hot Dry Rock environment and Enhanced Geothermal Systems, geothermal energy is soon going to compete with other unconventional energy resources in Europe where Germany and France are pushing the research ahead. In the Czech Republic, the geothermal exploration borehole drilled in Litoměřice in 2006 - 2007 provided information that contributed greatly to the understanding of geothermic conditions in the country. In addition to Litoměřice, two other areas have been recently subject to geothermal exploration: Semily and Liberec. These three areas have been studied in detail in this Master's thesis to assess their geothermal potential. Information on the geology of the selected areas was gathered from numerous scientific papers and reports and was compared with information from geological maps and boreholes. On the basis of this information, geological sections of the area of Litoměřice and Semily were compiled. Drill core samples from five boreholes from the geological units in the areas under investigation were collected and measured using the Lippmann & Rauen Thermal Conductivity Scanner. Thermal conductivity of geological units inferred in the basement but not intersected in the boreholes was estimated on the basis of values presented in literature. Finally,...
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Postprandial termophily in leopard gecko (\kur{Eublepharis macularius}).
MAREČKOVÁ, Iva
This thesis deals with the postprandial thermophilia by the species \kur{Eublepharis macularius}. Research took place in the laboratory conditions with artificially created temperature gradient. 11 individuals of different age, gender and weight were chosen for my experiment. Surveying were in progress 8 hours before and 16 hours after feeding of animals. The experiment was repeated 3 times as surveying and once as a blind test. Although the temperature preference during the individual surveyings was changing, the postprandial thermophilia was not proved by statistic assessment of the experiments for sp. Eublepharis macularius. The thesis contains a literary review about the studied species, summary of published results dealing with postprandial thermophilia observed at reptiles, methodology of the experiment, results and discussion.
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