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Last update: RNDr. Veronika Sacherová, Ph.D. (21.12.2017)
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Last update: RNDr. Veronika Sacherová, Ph.D. (21.12.2017)
West-Eberhart MJ. 2003. Developmental Plasticity. Oxford University Press; New York, Oxford. Gilbert SF, Epel D. 2008. Ecological Developmental Biology: Integrating Epigenetics, Medicine, and Evolution. Sinauer Associates Inc.: Sunderland, MA. Gilbert SF, Epel D. 2015. Ecological Developmental Biology: The Environmental Regulation of Development, Health and Evolution. Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, Massachusetts. |
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Last update: RNDr. Veronika Sacherová, Ph.D. (29.10.2019)
Oral examination. |
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Last update: RNDr. Jana Rubešová, Ph.D. (14.09.2019)
1) Basic concepts of genetic and environmental sources of phenotypic variability History of the field; proximate and ultimate causation in evolution; terms phenotype, genotype, phenotypic plasticity; historical contingency and convergence in evolution, re-evolution of complex traits. 2) Genetics of phenotypic changes Basics of quantitative genetics; definitions of heritability; methodological approaches to heritability estimation; methods to find loci controlling a trait expression; candidate genes; QTL; pleiotropy; multiple loci controlling a trait; epistatic interactions; examples of simple genetic changes with large phenotypic effects; phenotypic changes caused by alteration of protein sequence, differences in gene expression; importance of gene copy number variation; co-option. 3) Phenotypic plasticity Interactions between genotype and environment; norm of reaction; polyphenism; phenotypic flexibility; developmental plasticity; life-cycle staging; canalization; phenotypic accommodation; maternal effect; trade-offs in phenotypic traits; methodological approaches to phenotypic plasticity - transplant and „common garden“ experiments; adaptiveness of phenotypic plasticity; Baldwin effect and genetic assimilation. 4) Proximate mechanisms of phenotypic plasticity Regulation of alternative phenotypes; direct environmental influence; non-genetic heritability; gene expression; hormones and methods of hormonal manipulations; hormonal activation and organisation; epigenetics (RNA interference, small RNA, DNA modifications); importance of symbionts; role of phenotypic plasticity vs. genetic determination. 5) Evolution of complex phenotypes and the concept of evolutionary constraint Term „constraint“; developmental constraint and its breakage; adaptation and/versus constraint, correlated trait changes; allometry (ontogenetic, static and evolutionary); phenotypic integration as adaptation vs. evolutionary constraint. 6) Effect of environment on human and animal health Chemical environment: endocrine disruptors, teratogens; physical environment: temperature, pH, water availability (effect of global climate change), light pollution, electromagnetic pollution; pathogens, symbionts… 7) Mechanisms of sex determination Mechanisms of sex determination as a special case of genetic/environmental causation; unisexuality; sex changes during ontogeny; genotypic sex determination; environmental sex determination; sex reversal; stability of sex determination; gonad differentiation; origin of sex determining genes; role of sex steroids in sex determination in vertebrates. 8) Proximate mechanisms of sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism as a field integrating many essential aspects of ecological developmental biology; genetics of secondary sexual traits - intersexual genetic correlation; inter- and intralocus sexual conflict and its evolutionary resolution; antagonistic selection; autosomal control; linkage to sex chromosomes; environmental control of sexual dimorphism. The course is taught with the support of the project reg. number CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/16_015/0002362 |