Title: Artificial light-harvesting antenna based on an aggregation of bacteriochlorophyll c with selected pigments Author: Tomáš Malina Department: Department of Chemical Physics and Optics Supervisor of the master thesis: doc. RNDr. Jakub Pšenčík, Ph.D., KCHFO MFF UK Abstract: Solar energy is one of the most important energy sources for all living organisms. The light harvesting takes place in specialised photosynthetic complexes called antennas; they typically contain pigments held by a protein scaffold. Antennas of green bacteria, chlorosomes, are unique in this respect, for they do not need proteins to organise the pigments. The pigments contained in chlorosomes, bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c, d or e, aggregate spontaneously. This self-aggregation can be used to form an artificial light-harvesting antenna the absorption spectrum of which can be extended by addition of other pigments. Antennas based on aggregation of BChl c with β-carotene and BChl a were prepared by a fast and slow method. The excitation energy transfer efficiency between these pigments was studied. The efficiency of energy transfer from BChl c to BChl a reached up to 95 %, the efficiency of energy transfer from β-carotene to BChl c was lower. An important role of β- carotene in artificial aggregates as well as in chlorosomes is its...

This diploma thesis focuses on comparison of photosynthesis and tree water status between high forest and coppice of Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl. Four different types of management were investigated during vegetation season 2016: high forest, coppice on clear-felled site, coppice with standards and seedlings. Methods of leaf gas exchange and water potential measurements allowed to study transpiration, photosynthesis and its response to light and CO2 concentration and leaf water potential. All these physiological parameters were studied as linked to weather conditions and various levels of drought stress. When the soil water was not limiting factor trees in all variants of experiment behaved similarly. However, during mild to severe drought stress the coppice was superior to seedlings and to high forest. It showed higher photosynthesis rate (2.49 umol m-2 s-1) than seedlings (0.86 umol m-2 s-1), both under moderate water stress. Coppice also had higher stomatal conductance and quantum yield of fluorescence than high forest which allowed to higher photosynthetic rates. The lowest value of predawn water potential was in high forest (-3.27 MPa) whereas highest in coppice (-2.01 MPa) which indicated better water availability and lower evapotranspiration demands imposed on coppice sprouts due to their lower height and therefore lower overall aerodynamic conductance. Response of net photosynthesis to CO2 concentration revealed higher carboxylation rates in high forest than in coppice but low stomatal conductance was a reason for overall lower photosynthetic rates in high forest than in coppice. Due to its superiority under water stress coppice forest may be a viable option for forest management on dry sites during the climate change.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) have been recognized to alleviate damages caused by drought stress and to enhance tolerance to water deficit. Soaking of maize kernels before the sowing in solution with different 24-epibrassinolide concentrations (especially the 10-8 M) had a positive effect on growth of plants before and after the stress period, although it did not affected relative water content and photosynthetic parameters. After the recovery under optimal conditions there were no differences among the treatments. When compared to spraying, soaking of maize kernels was not proved to have any advantages, though its positive effect on plants germination under water deficit conditions could be possible. Based on the results of the second season experiment it is not possible to deduce the role of exogenous BRs application (spraying with 24-epibrassinolide) or endogenous BRs biosynthesis (spraying with biosynthesis inhibitor - brassinazole) in maize plants subjected to water deficit. However, decrease in relative water content in contrast to chlorophylls content increase during the days following after drought stress onset in both cultivars (contrastive in drought sensitivity) challenges for further investigation of this problem. Understanding the role of BRs in plant drought tolerance and resistance is...

The aims of this work were 1) to assess whether sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) genotypes originating from the India can be grown and analyzed in the climatic conditions of central Europe and 2) to find out the utilization potential of selected non- destructive and destructive methods based mostly on the chlorophyll a fluorescence measurements and the determination of photosynthetic pigments' content for the differentiation of sorghum genotypes based on their presumed drought tolerance. Field experiments made during 2 years compared 15 genotypes of this species (2 stay-green parental lines, 2 senescent parental lines and 11 introgression lines with stay-green loci), 2 of these genotypes were further analyzed in greenhouse conditions where the water deficit was induced by a cessation of watering for 12 days. The field-grown plants showed some differences between individual genotypes in all measured parameters; however, for the majority of the genotypes these differences were not statistically significant. The stay-green parental genotype B35 differred the most from the other ones in both field seasons, but the other stay-green genotypes usually did not differ from the senescent genotypes. No significant differences between both greenhouse-tested genotypes (presumably contrasting in their...

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...

The goal of this Master thesis was development of teaching materials that are focusing on mastering the fundamentals of mathematical modelling on the examples of photosynthetic processes and influence of selected environmental factors on these processes. Developed models of photosynthetic response to select environmental factors, worksheets, methodical manuals and other supporting materials belong to the teaching materials for secondary schools and serve as a basis of work with models. This teaching materials are aimed to introduce modelling and its significance not only in science but also in education. The present thesis was accomplished on the basis of participation of the Department of Experimental Plant Biology of Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague in international project NSF within programme GLOBE - The Carbon Cycle. The present thesis is divided into two parts - theoretical part and practical part. The theoretical part includes a literary review and an introduction to the mathematical modelling (in software Stella) that are elaborated considering the teaching purposes and serve as a theoretical background for practical part of present thesis. The chapters that deal with increasing interest in mplementing of modelling in education and with philosophical background of software...

The effect of elevated CO2 concentration (EC CO2) on photosynthesis has been observed on many hierarchical levels. There was a significant increase in the rate of photosynthesis of examined trees observed in previous studies thus I hypothesised these changes are accompanied by changes of chloroplast ultrastructure and photosystem content and function and the main aim of this study is to evaluate these adjustments. In this study 13 - 14 years old seedlings of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) grown in glass domes with adjustable windows - one with ambient CO2 concentration as a control, the other one with simulated EC CO2 (700 ppm) - during the vegetative season were examined. Pigment content, fluorescence and reflectance indexes, activity of photosystem 1 (PS1) and 2 (PS 2) of isolated chloroplasts, size of cross-sectional area of chloroplast and proportion of stromal to granal thylakoids under EC CO2 treatment were investigated. Although there was a significant increase in the maximum rate of photosynthetic assimilation of trees from EC CO2 (observed by other researchers of our team), decreased chlorophyll and carotenoid content as well as the activity of both photosystems were observed, which is usually atributed to photosynthetic acclimation. As the rate of decrease of photosystem 1 and photosystem 2...

While animal steroid hormones are very well known and have been studied for a long time, in plants no steroid substances were known until relatively recently. Only in the second half of the past century brassinosteroids were discovered; later on, their hormonal function in plants was confirmed. Still a lot of unknown remains as regards their function in plant cells. This paper presents in its first part the evidence that brassinosteroids control in maize (Zea mays L.) grown under field conditions not only its morphology and yield but also some developmental/reproduction characteristics like e.g. number of female inflorescences or speed of the development of male inflorescences. Particular response of a plant depends, however, on the type of applied brassinosteroid, its concentration, and last but not least also on a particular maize genotype and developmental stage of the plant during applicatin. Impact of brassinosteroids on primary photosynthetic processes in plants has not been proven under these conditions, neither on the activity of photosystem (PS) I nor on the Hill reaction. No statistically significant differences in the content of photosynthetic pigments have been found either. Another topic dealt with in this thesis is the possible protective influence of brassinosteroids on plants...

This diploma thesis is focused on the creation of model tasks (by means of an experiment) for the study of biology at secondary schools and concerns the effects of temperature on plant growth. The selected tasks utilize the new didactic approach by means of the so called inquiry based education. This method of teaching contributes to the development of individual deduction reasoning and encourages the students to actively think about the subject matter. The thesis provides the necessary theoretical background for the topic together with the description of methods and material needed for the conducting the experiments. Furthermore, the thesis describes the necessary instructions and procedures to conduct the experiment and its use in the secondary school teaching practice and presents the requisite methodical guidelines and worksheets for them. Simultaneously, the thesis verifies the didactic applicability of the experiment and the worked out materials through a questionnaire survey and monitored application of the model tasks at secondary schools. The main result of this diploma thesis is a modern, functional and verified method of teaching for high school about the effects of temperature on plant growth in accordance with modern approaches to education, which include own experiments, their...

Brassinosteroids and ecdysteroid are naturally occuring chemical compounds in plants. The aim of this study was to show whether the application of exogenous steroids such as brassinosteroids (24-epibrassinolide, 28-homobrassinolide, 24-epicastasterone) and ecdysteroid (20-hydroxyecdysone) can affect the morphological parameters and primary photosyntetic processes of selected monocotyledons that was barley, wheat, maize and sorghum. Non-destructive method for measuring of fast kinetics of chlorophyll fluorescence in investigated plants was used. Analysis of primary photosynthetic processes was realized in five time periods from the application of exogenous steroids on the two different old leaves. The response to the treatment by exogenous steroid was different species by plant species. One week after the application of exogenous steroids plants showed differences in their morphological parameters but most of them were not signifficant. The most steroid-sensitive plant was wheat morphological parameters of were significantly different from untreated control plants. No change in maximum quantum yield of photosystem II to the application of exogenous steroid in plants of Sorghum bicolor L. was detected. In the other examined plant species changes in photosynthesis parameters were detected which...