Syllabus
Lectures:
1. INTRODUCTION: General information about the subject, practical lessons and requirements for the exam. Definition of ecophysiology. Algal diversity and occurrence. LIFE CYCLES: various types of life cycles, basic terminology (gametophyte, sporophyte, meiosis, fertilization,…). Vegetative and dormant stages, factors affecting their formation and germination. Different adaptation strategies in different life cycle stages.
2. STRESS: biotic and abiotic stressors; stress reaction, avoidance and tolerance strategies. Reactive oxygen species. Osmotic stress, role of cellular water, osmolytes, desiccation, salinity, freezing. Extreme pH. High temperature.
3. NUTRIENTS: macronutrients and micronutrients. Specific role of some elements in ecophysiology of selected taxa. Nitrogen starvation and stress tolerance. Stress caused by both lack and excess of micronutrients. Heavy metals and toxins.
4. LIGHT: crucial role of light in photosynthesis and other biological processes ( photoreception, photoacclimation, phototaxis, diurnal cycles). UV radiation and mechanisms of protection against its harmful effects.
5. PIGMENTS: diversity of pigments in different taxonomic groups. Their role in photosynthesis and other processes (protection against high irradiation, antioxidants, hormones, antimicrobial activity). LIPIDS: overview of main groups, differences in lipid compositions
6. EVALUATION OF VIABILITY AND PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE: Overview of basic methodology used in ecophysiological research. Growth rate, measurement of photosynthesis, microscopical evaluation of viability, fluorescent and non-fluorescent dyes, PAM fluorimetry (maximum and effective quantum yield, light curves). Practical lessons:
1) PIGMENTS: Pigment extraction from lyophilized biomass, spectrophotometric quantification of pigment content. TLC – visualization of differences in pigment composition among taxa and among stress treatments. Detection of phenolic substances using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, quantification using a calibration curve.
2) STAINING: Visualization of dead and living cells, detection of metabolically in/active cells, fluorescent staining of nuclei. Staining of starch, lipids and other compounds.
3) PAM FLUORIMETRY: Basic work with PAM fluorimeter. Parameter Fo and its use in biomass estimation. Fv/Fm of cultures that differ in stress exposure, age and classification. rETR curves – measurements and interpretation of detected differences among cultures.
Annotation
The course is not running in 2023/24.
This course consists of six 90-min lectures and three 180-min practical lessons.
Algae are a polyphyletic group of organisms. They are taxonomically very diverse, and they also inhabit all kinds of biotopes. Therefore, they individual taxa differ largely in their physiological processes, biochemical composition, and adaptation strategies. During the lectures we will focus on various biological processes in algae in relation to their environment, above all environmental stressors and mechanisms of stress tolerance. We will also learn about basic methods used in ecophysiologial experiments.
During practical lessons students will learn various laboratory methods used in experimental work with algal cultures, which can be further used in their own diploma thesis research. We will use algae from various taxonomic groups and exposed to selected stress conditions. The effect of stress on viability, pigment composition, photosynthetic activity, lipid content etc. will be studied and compared among taxa. Basic statistical methods for evaluating the results of our experiments will also be presented.