Czech White-Nose Syndrome Team together with international collaborators discovered mechanisms of tolerance that protect Palearctic bats from white-nose syndrome (WNS), the disease that caused mass die-off in North America. The discovery raises hope for a better future of bats in North American ecosystems. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is caused by a generalist pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans with the worst possible characteristics of an infectious fungal agent. The generalist nature of the WNS fungus means that it can infect any bat hibernating in a contaminated cave or mine and, moreover, it may remain viable and virulent, waiting for its hosts until the next hibernation period. Harmless to humans, the WNS fungus kills hibernating North American bats in winter. However, loss of voracious insectivorous bats from agricultural ecosystems may result in economic costs required for increased pest control. Without mass die-offs of bats harbouring the WNS agent in Europe, the response to disease is an enigma. To study the survival crossroads, the Czech WNS Team focused on the relationship between pathogen quantity and disease under natural conditions. High disease prevalence together with high fungal loads in absence of bat population declines in Eurasia indicates disease tolerance mechanisms, where hosts limit harm inflicted by the pathogen but do not hinder its growth. The tolerance mechanisms revealed by the Czech WNS Team is a function of bat adaptation to the presence of the pathogen. and Natália Martínková.
The Algatech Centre, which is a scientific division of the Institute of Microbiology of the CAS located in the Opatovický mlýn (mill) near Třeboň in South Bohemia, focuses on the research of photosynthetic microorganisms, including algae, cyanobacteria and photosynthetic bacteria. The Laboratory of algal biotechnology studies processes and technology involved in the efficient production of algae and the use of algal biomass. It seeks new bio-active compounds in algae to be used as dietary supplements, in pharmacology and biomedicine. Scientists also carry our research into various metabolites of cyanobacteria and their effects on human cells. Special interest is paid to substances inhibiting the division of cancer cells and/or selectively inducing their apoptosis. The Laboratory of anoxygenic phototrophs is engaged in the basic research of evolutionary very old prokaryotes containing photosynthetic reaction centres composed of bacteriochlorophyll and its researchers have recently discovered an entirely new photosynthetic species - a new family of phototrophic bacteria, i.e. bacteria capable of producing energy through photosynthesis. Only three new families of phototrophic bacteria were discovered over the past 100 years.The Laboratory of cell cycles of algae aims at gaining a deeper insight into molecular mechanisms regulating the specific cells cycle in green algae hat divide by multiple fission - that is divide into more than two daughter cells. Scientists´ objective is to leam more about the regulation of cell size and division, the activity of cyclin dependant kinase and cyclin dependant kinase complexes throughout the normal cell cycle as well as their role in the cell cycle interruption in case of DNA damage. The pattern of cell cycle progression in algae can also tell us more about animal embryos, since the early phases of their growth and development are controlled by similar principles as those in green algae., The Laboratory of photosynthesis studies fundamental biochemical and molecular mechanisms regarding photosynthesis, the ways of its regulation during the day or under specific stress conditions. Special attention is paid particularly to photosystem II and researchers in the laboratory have recently made a significant step towards understanding its biogenesis. Photosystem II is a complicated protein complex present in the cells of plants, algae and cyanobacteria, the proper functioning of which is essential for photosynthesis. Research teams from the Algatech centre, together with colleagues from British universities have described the first phases of photosystem II synthesis, namely the mechanism by which chlorophyll molecules are inserted into core proteins of photosystem IIand how the functional core of this complex is assembled. Moreover, they have recently presented a substantially new view of repair mechanisms of photosystem II and the ways of recognition of its damaged protein subunits that have to be degraded and replaced. Deepening the understanding of fundamental processes in algae, cyanobacteria and photosynthetic bacteria can help use their potential in many practical applications, from biomass and biofuels to medicine., and Jana Olivová.