The Laboratory of Molecular Taxonomy (LMT) was established in 2000 as a joint project of the Institute of Parasitology and Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of South Bohemia. The laboratory is designed to study molecular evolution of single celled eukaryotes, mainly those that have been involved in the process of secondary endosymbiosis. LMT is supported by the Ministry of Education (CEZ AJ06/98 F1-123100003) and grants covering particular projects.
Allen A.E., Dupont Ch.L., Oborník M., Horák A., Nunes-Nesi A., McCrow J.P., Zheng H., Johnson D.A., Hu H., Fernie A.R., Bowler Ch. (2011) Evolution and metabolic significance of the urea cycle in photosynthetic diatoms. Nature 473: 203–209.
Janouškovec J., Horák A., Oborník M., Lukeš J., Keeling P.J. (2010) A common red algal origin of the apicomplexan, dinoflagellate, and heterokont plastids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 10949–10954. (pdf)
MOORE R.B., OBORNÍK M., JANOUŠKOVEC J., CHRUDIMSKÝ T., VANCOVÁ M., GREEN D.H., WRIGHT S.W., DAVIES N.W., BOLCH C.J.S., HEIMANN K., ŠLAPETA J., HOEGH-GULDBERG O., LOGSDON J.M., CARTER D.A. (2008) A photosynthetic alveolate closely related to apicomplexan parasites. Nature 451: 959-963.
BOWLER C., ALLEN A.E., BADGER J.H., GRIMWOOD J., JABBARI K., KUO A., MAHESWARI U., MARTENS C., MAUMUS F., OTILLAR R.P., RAYKO E., SALAMOV A., VANDEPOELE K., BESZTERI B., GRUBER A., HEIJDE M., KATINKA M., MOCK T., VALENTIN K., VERRET F., BERGES J.A., BROWNLEE C., CADORET J.-P., CHIOVITTI A., CHOI C.-J., COESEL S., DE MARTINO A., DETTER J.C., DURKIN C., FALCIATORE A., FOURNET J., HARUTA M., HUYSMAN M.J.J., JENKINS B.D., JIROUTOVÁ K., JORGENSEN R.E., JOUBERT Y., KAPLAN A., KRÖGER N., KROTH P.G., LA ROCHE J., LINDQUIST E., LOMMER M., MARTIN–JÉZÉQUEL V., LOPEZ P.J., LUCAS S., MANGOGNA M., MCGINNIS K., MEDLIN L.K., MONTSANT A., OUDOT–LE SECQ M.-P., NAPOLI C., OBORNÍK M., SCHNITZLER PARKER M., PETIT J.-L., PORCEL B.M., POULSEN N., ROBISON M., RYCHLEWSKI L., RYNEARSON T.A., SCHMUTZ J., SHAPIRO H., SIAUT M., STANLEY M., SUSSMAN M.R., TAYLOR A.R., VARDI A., VON DASSOW P., VYVERMAN W., WILLIS A., WYRWICZ L.S., ROKHSAR D.S., WEISSENBACH J., ARMBRUST E.V., GREEN B.R., VAN DE PEER Y., GRIGORIEV I.V. (2008) The Phaeodactylum genome reveals the evolutionary history of diatom genomes. Nature 456: 239-244.
Kořený L., Sobotka R., Janouškovec J., Keeling P.J., Oborník M. (2011) Tetrapyrrole synthesis of photosynthetic chromerids is likely homologous to the unusual pathway of apicomplexan parasites. Plant Cell 23: 3454–3462.
The novel group of photosynthetic alveolates was isolated from the stony corals by Robert Moore (now at University Syndey, Australia). In collaboration, we are working on their molecular characterization and phylogeny, as well as characterization of their organelles. The novel alga was named Chromera velia and represents a novel phylum Chromerida within Alveolata.
Many unicellular photoautotrophic eukaryotes (e.g. diatoms, heterokonts, cryptophytes, haptophytes, dinoflagellates, euglenoids) possess complex chloroplasts that evolved during the process of secondary endosymbiogenesis. The staff of LMT have participated in the annotation of the genome of centric diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, particularly in the search of nuclear-encoded plastid targeted proteins, and their in silico characterisation and phylogeny. Recently, two staff members have been invited to participate in the annotation of the genome of the pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum.
During the first diatom genome project we have analyzed several plastid-located metabolic pathways. Surprisingly, not all nuclear-encoded plastid-targeted proteins are of cyanobacterial (plastid) origin. It is obvious that chloroplasts can utilize enzymes that are not of a cyanobacterial origin. We have shown that nuclear-encoded cyanobacterial enzymes can be replaced by their cytosolic or mitochondrial counterparts, ultimately to be incorporated into the metabolism of the chloroplast. It is evident that composition and location of some pathways were deeply influenced by the process of secondary endosymbiosis.
Evolution and phylogenetic relationships of apicomplexan parasites have been intensively studied. However, research has been focused on those parasitizing humans or animals with high economical importance. This led to the unbalanced taxon sampling affecting phylogenetic analyses, which have not so far contained coccidia from invertebrate hosts. We sequenced SSU rRNA genes from several coccidians from invertebrate hosts, particularly insects (apicomplexans of the genus Adelina) and cephalopods (the apicomplexan genus Aggregata) and investigated their phylogenetic relationships. This work was done (M.O.) in long-term collaboration with David Modrý (Veterinary University Brno).
A large collection of helminths is available for comparative studies...
