The genus Pelasgus (Cyprinidae) is endemic to the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and includes seven species. In this work, a multilocus approach has been applied to study phylogenetic relationships between the species and their populations and to revise their distribution areas. 180 specimens from 47 localities from 30 river drainages were analyzed, comprehensively covering the distribution range of the genus. Moreover, samples from type localities of all species were included in the analyses. Mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and nuclear markers (the first intron of ribosomal protein S7, recombination activating gene RAG1 and rhodopsin) were used. Existence of seven well supported lineages was revealed based on cytochrome b, which is the most variable marker. These lineages correspond to P. laconicus, P. marathonicus, P. minutus, P. stymphalicus, P. thesproticus, P. prespensis and Pelasgus sp. The most variable nuclear marker was first intron of S7, which provides almost the same results as cytochrome b, revealing six well supported lineages, whereas RAG1 and rhodopsin appear to be less informative, revealing only four well supported clades. These markers did not separate several species (P. marathonicus, P. stymphalicus, P. thesproticus, and Pelasgus sp.) due to low variability of the markers...

The Middle East is occupied by three species of family Emballonuridae which are morfologically divided into several subspecies. Those could be defined only poorly and intraspecific diversity of these species is resolved unsatisfactorily. This is the reason why the molecular genetic analysis, which can revise the diversity on the new unused level, were used in this thesis. Based on data from sequencing of both mitochondrial and nuclear markers the phylogenetic analysis was performed. That analysis adds new information about interspecific and intraspecific relationships among populations of this family in this area. Bats (Chiroptera) of the family Emballonuridae are characterised by tail perforating the uropatagial membrane on its dorsal side in the half of its lenght and by reduction of the phalangi which makes long and narrow wing. The family is widespread circumtropically and is divided into two subfamilies. The subfamily Emballonurinae could be sometimes diveded into two tribes, new-world Diclidurini and old-world Emballonurini. The representatives of the subfamily Taphozoinae occur only in the Old World. Middle East is occupied by three species of this family. Coleura afra inhabits only southern Arabic peninsula and the populations from this area are ranked in subspecies C. a. gallarum....

Lichens are a classic example of mutualistic symbiotic associations, yet the views on lichen symbiosis have changed considerably during the last fifty years. Nowadays, lichens are generally understood to be microecosystems consisting of several symbiotic partners which contribute in different ways to the prosperity of the whole system and which differ by the strength of their bond to other symbiotic partners. The level of knowledge of the individual partners (mycobionts vs. photobionts vs. bacteria) varies greatly in terms of their specificity, diversity and in the forces that shape this diversity. The main aim of this work was to reveal the diversity of organisms participating in lichen symbiosis and to better understand the biological forces which shape this diversity. We worked with a relatively common lichen group, zeorin-containing red-fruited Cladonia species, and specifically, we focused on the mycobionts, photobionts and bacteria that participate in this association. During the course of the study, it became apparent that species delimitation, which is a fundamental requirement for accurate diversity estimates, is another topic that requires further research. Our analyses revealed that species circumscription of most of recently recognized Cladonia mycobionts cannot by supported by...

Cercarial dermatitis (CD) is manifested as a strong itchy rash that usually occurs after bathing in the natural water bodies where it makes recreation uncomfortable. As a consequence, the natural swimming areas and be closed because of inconvenient water quality, what subsequently leads to the financial losses. The infection can also affect people working in the natural water bodies as lifeguards (at the natural swimming areas), people monitoring water organisms or water quality etc.). Nowadays, CD in Czech Republic occurs more frequently than in the past. For this reason, the topic of avian schistosomes and CD is very attractive not only for scientists, but newly also for employees of hygienic stations and health institutes. Based on the Act No. 258/2000 Coll. on protection of public health and related executive Decree No. 238/2011 Coll. approved this year their duty will be regular monitoring of official natural swimming areas for causative agents of CD. For the comprehensive overview about the occurrence of the avian schistosomes and CD, up to now, at the localities in the Czech Republic the specialized overview map with the marked catches of avian schistosomes and CD was created in the program ArcGIS Online. This map was made with use the records obtained from the scientific articles, final...

4 ABSTRACT (English) This thesis is based on three published research papers studying bacterial REP (repetitive extragenic palindrome) elements. REP elements are one of the best-characterized groups of bacterial DNA repeats, distributed mostly in gammaproteobacteria, including enterobacteria. They are present in noncoding parts of host genomes, usually occurring in hundreds of copies. REPs are typically aggregated in higher order repeats. In the Gram-negative model Escherichia coli, interactions of several proteins important for cell's physiology with REPs were described, indicating significant role for these elements for host cells. The first work (Nunvar et al. 2010) presents the discovery of a protein class, related to IS200/IS605 transposases. These proteins, termed RAYTs (REP-associated tyrosine transposases), contain characteristic motifs in their amino acid sequences, which are absent in canonical IS200/IS605 transposases. Another attribute of RAYTs is the arrangement of their encoding genes. These are single copy genes, always flanked at both termini by at least two REPs in inverted orientation. Based on the similarity between the REP-rayt-REP unit and insertion sequences of the IS200/IS605 family, between RAYTs and tyrosine transposases and between REPs and subterminal sequences of the IS200/IS605...

For a long time studies were focused on searching optimal conditions of germination of individual species. During the last few years studies have started to search for a relationship between germination and various species characteristics. Most of them, however, use only one temperature during germination tests. Very few studies use more than one temperature during the germination tests. In the last years studies started also to compare germination between rare and common species, but these studies compare just a few species. There are no studies which would compare germination on broader range of species. Aim of this study was to indentify which factors are determing germination of species and to find relationships between germination and characteristics of rare species (n=62). Another aim was to find out differences in germination of pairs (n=24) of closely related rare and common species. To test the germination I have chosen a methodology with several consecutive temperatures. Throughout the time of testing , the seeds were placed either in light or in dark. The dataset was processed by linear regression. The results show that germination requirements of species are determinet by time of flowering, weight of seeds, dispersal mode, species requirements for soil humidity and nutrients and type of...

The delineation of desmid species was traditionally based on purely morphological features. However, a frequent misinterpretation of morphological variability in desmids has led in the past to extensive taxonomical confusion within this important group of green algae which complicates the interpretation of their biodiversity in freshwater ecology, biogeography and biomonitoring. Consequently, I focused in this thesis predominantly on a previously neglected issue, the application of polyphasic approaches in the species-level taxonomy of desmids. In the most studies, a combination of both traditional morphological and modern molecular phylogenetic and geometric morphometric methods has been used to evaluate the taxonomy of selected desmid species, particularly representatives of the morphologically complex genera Micrasterias and Xanthidium. In two papers, I used the combination of traditional morphological and autecological data to clear up the taxonomy of several morphologically less prominent desmid taxa. Generally, the results of the thesis demonstrated that the way we recently see the diversity and distribution of desmids should be thoroughly changed. The real species diversity is mostly distinctly finer than that estimated by classical morphological taxonomy, often corresponds to varieties of...

From 23 European and North American strains Euastrum humerosum/didelta species complex (Desmidiales) I have obtained 3 lineages in molecular marker trnGucc group II intron. I did not acquire significant and homogenous results in SSU intron. It is probable that the lineages of trnGucc intron are very young. SEM revealed one central pore in cell wall and five bulges. The lineages were significantly different in their shape and dimensions. The lineages differentiated mainly in their length and breadth of the cells. The lineages inside morphotype E. humerosum differentiated in shape and dimensions of the polar lobe. The lineages inside morphotype E.didelta differentiated in shape and dimensions of the neck. That was ascertained using the geometric morphometrics with the measuring. Linear discriminant analysis of the desmids from literature revealed that is possible to partly discriminate groups of the varieties (E. humerosum var. parallelum and E. didelta in lineage A; two formae E. didelta f. val Piora and E. didelta f. latior in lineage B; E. didelta var. inermiforme and E. humerosum var. affine in lineage C). Key words: desmids, species, hidden diversity, molecular phylogenetics, geometric morphometrics, Euastrum, scanning electron microscopy

From 23 European and North American strains Euastrum humerosum/didelta species complex (Desmidiales) we have obtained 3 lineages in molecular marker trnGuuc group II intron. We did not acquire significant and homogenous results in SSU intron. It is probable that the lineages are very young. The lineages were significantly different in their shape and dimensions. We used the geometric morphometrics with the measuring of the lengths and breath of the semicells, isthmus and their ratios. The lineages differentiated in their dimensions and shape variable polar lobes and neck. SEM revealed the one central pore in cell wall on the contrary, with variant E. didelta var. bengalicum, which has two pores according the literature records. Key words: desmids, species, hidden diversity, molecular phylogenetics, geometric morphometrics, Euastrum, scanning electron microscopy

This thesis is focused on the assessment of the phylogenetic position of the Myxozoa within the Metazoa, study of the evolutionary relationships within myxosporeans and investigation into the cryptic species assemblages of several myxosporeans based on the ribosomal and protein-coding data. The major part of this work was to confirm the evolutionary trends within myxosporeans based on a single gene by other molecular markers in order to find out if the reconstructed relationships correspond to the real organismal phylogeny. This has been a crucial step for future actions in solving the discrepancies between the myxosporean phylogeny and taxonomy.