SubjectsSubjects(version: 978)
Course, academic year 2025/2026
   
Botany of non-vascular plants - MB120P184
Title: Botany of non-vascular plants
Czech title: Botanika bezcévných rostlin (pro odbornou biologii)
Guaranteed by: Department of Botany (31-120)
Faculty: Faculty of Science
Actual: from 2022
Semester: summer
E-Credits: 4
Examination process: summer s.:
Hours per week, examination: summer s.:3/0, Ex [HT]
Capacity: unlimited
Min. number of students: 5
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
State of the course: taught
Language: English
Explanation: nahrazuje MB120P146
Note: enabled for web enrollment
Guarantor: RNDr. Martina Pichrtová, Ph.D.
Teacher(s): RNDr. Martina Pichrtová, Ph.D.
Mgr. Jana Steinová, Ph.D.
Incompatibility : MB120P183, MB120P76I
Is incompatible with: MB120P183
In complex pre-requisite: MB120C12, MB120T119
Is complex co-requisite for: MB120C120, MB120C121
Annotation -
This is an introductory course on diversity, distribution and phylogeny of the so called non-vascular plants which is a traditional polyphyletic group comprising algae, lichens and bryophytes. We will focus on general characteristics of individual taxonomic groups, their morphology, life cycles, evolution and ecology. The diversity overview is concentrated on ecologically important representatives of the natural ecosystems and on economically important taxa.
Presentations in PDF will be uploaded to SIS (see the section "Files" on the subject’s page) after individual lectures.
Last update: Pichrtová Martina, RNDr., Ph.D. (31.08.2024)
Literature -

Graham L. E., Graham J. M., Wilcox L. W. & Cook M. E. (2016): Algae, 3rd edition. LJLM Press.

Lee R.E. (1999): Phycology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Nash III. (2008): Lichen Biology. Cambridge University Press, Second edition, Cambridge

Smith A. J. E, & Smith R.(1980): The Moss Flora of Britain and Ireland. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Frey W. (ed.) (2015): Syllabus of Plant Families 2/1, Photoautotrophic Eukaryotic Algae. J. Cramer Verl., Stuttgart.

Last update: Pichrtová Martina, RNDr., Ph.D. (09.02.2023)
Requirements to the exam -

The course is concluded with an oral examination based on the material covered in the lectures and in the presentations. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the basic principles, general mechanisms, and evolutionary-ecological context.

Last update: Pichrtová Martina, RNDr., Ph.D. (31.08.2024)
Syllabus -

1) General introduction. Cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria as the ancestors of plant plastids, oxygenic photosynthesis, assimilation pigments. Occurrence in nature, importance, classification. Cyanobacterial water blooms and their ecological significance.

2) Plants (Archaeplastida, Plantae) – definition, important structural features. Glaucophyta. Rhodoplantae (red algae). Important joint features (cell walls, absence of the flagellar stages, storage compounds). Cyanidiophyta: Unicellular red algae with plesiomorphic features, occurrence in extreme habitats. Rhodophyta: classes Rhodellophyceae, Stylonematophyceae, Porphyridiophyceae, Compsopogonophyceae and core rhodophytes – Bangiophyceae and Florideophyceae. Morphology, life cycle, diversity, ecological and economical importance.

3) Viridiplantae (green plants). Key structural features, phylogenetic structure. Lineage Chlorophyta. "Prasinophyte" flagellates (Nephroselmidophyceae, Mamiellophyceae, Prasinophyceae, Pedinophyceae, Chlorodendrophyceae). Class Trebouxiophyceae - lichen photobionts (Trebouxiales), terrestrial and freshwater algae. Biotechnological, pharmaceutical and industrial use. Class Chlorophyceae - morphology, diversity, distribution, biotechnology. Class Ulvophyceae – marine benthic macroalgae and a terrestrial lineage Trentepohliales.

4) Viridiplantae – lineage Streptophyta. Evolution of traits connected with successful colonization of land by higher plants. Classes Mesostigmatophyceae, Chlorokybophyceae, Klebsormidiophyceae, Coleochaetophyceae, Charophyceae, Zygnematophyceae. Charophyceae – complex thallus morphology, life cycle, ecology. Zygnematphyceae - defining features (isogamy, conjugation, absence of flagellate stages). Distribution in natural ecosystems (peatlands, oligotrophic wetlands), biomonitoring of the ecological status.

5) Bryophyta (phylogenetic group bryophytes). Phylogeny, characteristics, life cycles. Sexual and asexual reproduction. Differences in life cycle of hepatics, hornworts and mosses. Anthocerotophyta (hornworts). Characteristics, diversity. Ephemerous species. Marchantiophyta (hepatics). Characteristics, diversity. Jungermanniopsida, Marchantiopsida - frondose and foliose types, examples of thallus types, silica vesicles.

6) Marchantiophyta - important examples of species. Bryophyta (mosses) - characteristics of the group, important features. Main groups and characteristic biotopes - moorlands, diversity, examples. Polytrichopsida, Andraeopsida, Bryopsida - diversity, examples. Important communities of the bryophytes - extreme dry conditions, stress adaptations to dryness. Water bryophytes. Use of the bryophytes, bioindication.

7) Lichenes (lichens). Ecological characteristics. Morphology and anatomy of lichens. Mycobionts - Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, differences in life cycles. Photobionts, main groups - overview. Phylogenetic structure, fossils. Physiology of lichens - reviviscence, continual metabolism, etc. Substrate specificity, epiphytes, terricolous, saxicolous species. Secondary metabolites.

8) Lichenes - classification and phylogeny. Ascomycota: Chaetothyriomycetes (Verrucariales) diversity and main genera, endolithic lichens. Acarosporomycetidae (Rhizocarpaceae, etc.) - thallus specifications (areoles), saxicolous species, acidic rock communities. Lecanoromycetes: Cladoniaceae - boreal forests, tundra. Peltigerares, Parmeliaceae, etc. - mesophilous macrolichens, more photobionts. Collemataceae - cyanolichens. Basidiomycota - Agaricales: basidiolichens. Lichens uses.

9) Eukaryotic lineages with secondary (tertiary) plastids. Secondary rhodoplasts. Dinoflagellates. Haptophyta and their role in global biogeochemical cycles. Cryptophyta – freshwater and marine phytoplankton.

10) Stramenopiles – general characteristics, phylogenetic structure. Bacillariophyceae (diatoms) - morphological structure, ontogeny, phylogeny. Diversity of important planktonic and benthic diatom genera, distribution in natural habitats, European monitoring schemes of the environmental status of freshwater habitats. Chrysophyceae (golden algae). Dictyochophyceae. Xanthophyceae, Eustigmatophyceae.

11) Phaeophyceae (seaweeds). Phylogenetic structure, life cycle characteristics (diversity of the sexual reproduction). Diversity and survey of the important genera. Secondary green plastids. Chlorarachniophyta, Euglenophyta. Independent primary endosymbiosis – genus Paulinella.

Last update: Pichrtová Martina, RNDr., Ph.D. (14.02.2024)
Learning outcomes -

After successfully completing the course Botany of Non-Vascular Plants, students will gain a comprehensive overview of the diversity, phylogeny, morphology, and ecological significance of cyanobacteria, algae, bryophytes, and lichens. Students will understand the evolutionary context of the origin of plants and plastids, be able to interpret the systematic classification of the main lines of non-vascular plants, and understand their role in natural ecosystems and their practical significance.

Knowledge

Students will

  • explain the basic definition of non-vascular plants in the broader context of the evolution of photosynthetic organisms and describe the origin and significance of oxygenic photosynthesis,
  • explain the position of cyanobacteria in the evolution of life, their role as ancestors of plant plastids, the nature of assimilation pigments, and the importance of cyanobacterial blooms in ecosystems,
  • define the Archaeplastida (Plantae) group and characterize its main lineages, their cellular and physiological characteristics, diversity of life cycles, and ecological and economic significance,
  • explain the evolutionary significance of the Streptophyta lineage and describe the key features associated with the colonization of terrestrial environments by higher plants,
  • describe eukaryotic lineages with secondary and tertiary plastids, characterize their morphology and life cycles, and explain their importance in global ecosystems,
  • summarize the diversity of the main bryophyte lineages, describe their life cycles and reproduction, explain their connection to specific types of biotopes, including adaptations to extreme environmental conditions,
  • explain the biological nature of lichens as symbiotic organisms, describe their morphology, anatomy, physiology, and ecological strategies, and clarify the importance of secondary metabolites

Skills

Student:

  • is familiar with the modern systematic and phylogenetic classification of cyanobacteria, algae, bryophytes, and lichens,
  • compares different lineages in terms of thallus type, reproduction, life cycles, and ecological strategies,
  • interprets the significance of selected groups in a global ecological context

Competencies

The student:

  • connects knowledge of systematics, evolution, and ecology into a comprehensive biological perspective,
  • applies the acquired knowledge in further study of botany, ecology, nature conservation, and environmental sciences,
  • uses theoretical knowledge of non-vascular plants as a basis for related specialized biological and ecological fields.
Last update: Pichrtová Martina, RNDr., Ph.D. (28.01.2026)
 
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