prof. IVAN ČEPIČKA
He is the head of the Department of Zoology at Charles University and focuses on the diversity and evolution of anaerobic protists.
Dr. TOMÁŠ PÁNEK
He is an assistant professor of the Department of Zoology at Charles University and focuses on comparative transcriptomics and genomics of neglected (non-model) microbial eukaryotes. In 2015 he obtained his PhD at Charles University and then spent 4 years as a postdoctoral fellow at the the Laboratory of protist genomics and evolution, University of Ostrava (Marek Eliáš group). He was also awarded by Fulbright Grant for Scholars and Researchers and spent seven months in Matthew W. Brown laboratory, Mississippi State University, USA. His main research interests are 1) reconstruction of the eukaryotic tree of life and 2) evolution of the eukaryotic cell, mainly its mitochondrion and cytoskeleton.
WILLIAM BOURLAND
Morphology and taxonomy of ciliates
Bill is our collaborator from Boise State University in Idaho (USA). He is an expert on the morphology and taxonomy of ciliates.
PhD students
VÍT CÉZA
Diversity and evolution of free-living trichomonads (Parabasalia)
He focuses mainly on the morphological and molecular diversity of endobiotic and free living trichomonads. He discovered an unsuspected diversity within the genus Hypotrichomonas as well as within free-living trichomonads with many unique strains and new species, which play an important role in evolution of the whole Parabasalia. His independent project contains a study on western lowland gorillas, central chimpanzees, and humans, which are co-inhabiting in Central African Republic as a part of a long-term monitoring focused on the pathogens among gorillas and people in natural forest ecosystem.
She focuses on morphological and molecular characterization of newly discovered protistan lineages.
MICHAEL KOTYK
Diversity and evolution of protists symbionts of non-termite cockroaches
For his Ph.D. he studies the diversity and host specificity of protist symbionts of non-termite cockroaches, with a focus on small Parabasalids and Oxymonads.
Apart from his Ph.D. he helps to maintain and expand the cockroach cultures on our department. His main hobbies are early mediaeval fencing and ecology and ethology of cockroaches.
JOHANA ROTTEROVÁ
johana.rotterova@natur.cuni.cz
Diversity and evolution of anaerobic ciliates and their prokaryotic symbionts
She focuses on the diversity of anaerobic ciliates, using complex microscopic techniques to study their morphology as well as molecular methods to study their phylogenetic and phylogenomic relationships. She focuses on exploring the ciliate SAL superclade (Spirotrichea, Armophorea, Litostomatea), broadening the known diversity of Armophorea as well as studying newly discovered deep lineages of marine anaerobic ciliates. In addition to the studies of hitherto unexplored ciliate diversity and discovery of several novel ciliate lineages, she focuses on the prokaryotic symbionts of these ciliates.
Internships: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, Massachusetts (WHOI) in the laboratory of Dr. Edgcomb (2016) – 3 months
PETR TÁBORSKÝ
DANIEL MÉNDEZ-SÁNCHEZ
He focuses on the diversity and systematics of free-living ciliates from freshwater ecosystems. He studied his master degree at the Faculty of Sciences at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). In 2015 he received a grant from the IRCN-BC to do a short research stay in the Laboratory of Protozoology at Ocean University of China. He was a lecturer at the Faculty of Sciences UNAM during 2018-2019.
For his PhD at Charles University he focuses on the diversity and systematics of anaerobic ciliates and their interaction with their methanogenic endosymbionts.
MSc students
KATEŘINA POLÁKOVÁ
katerina.polakova@natur.cuni.cz
Diversity and evolution of anaerobic scuticociliates
(Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea) and their prokaryotic symbionts
She focuses on symbiotic interactions between anaerobic ciliates and prokaryotes. She explores the diversity of anaerobic ciliates from the subclass Scuticociliatia (Oligohymenophorea). She is interested in the symbioses between anaerobic scuticociliates and various prokaryotes, living both as endo- and ectosymbionts and representing ecologically important prokaryotes (methanogenic Archaea, sulphate-reducing bacteria).
ONDŘEJ POMAHAČ
For his Master's degree he studies molecular and morphological characterization of Metopid subgroup (Metopida, Ciliophora) consisting of free-living anaerobic ciliates closely related to endosymbiotic clade Clevelandellida.
MATYÁŠ SOVIŠ
# protistology
MAREK VALT
For his Master's degree he studies molecular and morphological characterization of newly discovered anaerobic protistan species.
BSc students
MAGDALENA PAVLÁTOVÁ
She focuses on a new lineage of anaerobic marine amoebae and amoeboflagellates with uncertain phylogenetic position - Anaeramoebidae.
For her Bc. she studies cytoskeletar system of non-excavate excavates with the main focus on flagellar apparatus.
ANETA ŠIMÁČKOVÁ
She focuses on symbiotic interactions between anaerobic ciliates and prokaryotes. She is interested in Heterometopus species and their symbionts.
For her Bc. she studies the taxonomy of ciliates.
Former students and lab members
Lukáš Falteisek
Ondřej Kaman
Kateřina Krížová
Markéta Lorencová
Ludmila Nováková
Eva Mazancová
Pavla Butovičová
Kristýna Uhrová
Naoji Yubuki
Eliška Zadrobílková