The Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model is one of the earliest and, perhaps, the best known example used to explain why predators can indefinitely coexist with their prey. The population cycles resulting from this model can be found in every ecology textbook. Dr. Vlastimil Krivan, a mathematical ecologist at the Biology Center at Ceske Budejovice, shows that adaptive behavior of prey and...
Gene Methoprene-tolerant (Met) controls metamorphosis by regulating expression of the Broad-Complex gene, which is required for the metamorphic changes
Our research revealed repellent effects of larval tracks on conspecific larvae in aphidophagous coccinellids. Searching behaviour of insects was monitored in double choice tests with the assistance of automatic video tracking system EthoVision.
The peat bogs preserve relict ecosystems related to subarctic biomes, and characteristic isolated populations of cold-adapted insects live there. The insects of boreal peat bogs therefore are of great biogeographical and ecological interest, and their sensitivity to change makes them valuable as bioindicators.
In collaboration with the laboratory of Prof. Reppert, in the monarch eyes we have identified photoreceptors specialized for detection of polarized light in the UV spectrum. Furthermore we have discovered and characterized a molecular neural wiring connecting circadian biological clock with the signal pathway of polarized light entering the brain of the migratory butterfly.
This book, as the first volume of the "Illustrated Catalogue of Aphididae in the Korean Peninsula", includes only one subfamily, Aphidinae, the major group of the family Aphididae.
RNA interference (RNAi) allows gene silencing, and thus analyses of gene function, even in non-model organisms, where targeted mutagenesis is not feasible. The main problem is how to deliver the interfering double-stranded RNA, sufficient for a specific degradation of the target mRNA, into the organism's cells. We have solved this problem using a recombinant virus Sindbis.
Czech Republic occupies a keyposition in the research of scree slopes, related to its geological and geomorphological structure and position in the centre of Europe.
The dominance of the diploid state in higher organisms, with haploidy generally confined to the gametic phase, has led to the perception that diploidy is favored by selection. This view is highlighted by the fact that no known female organism within the Metazoa exists exclusively in a haploid state.
We found a group of 6 related Drosophila proteins, named ADGF-A,-A2,-B,-C,-D,-E, similar to the enzyme adenosine deaminase. ADGFs have strong adenosine deaminase activity and they are also involved in the regulation of mitosis.
