Department of Aquatic Microbial Ecology

Head of the Department:
Karel Šimek

Scientists:
Martina Čtvrtlíková, Karel Horňák, Jan Jezbera, Jitka Jezberová, Jaroslava Komárková, Miroslav Macek, Jiři Nedoma, Klára Řeháková, Jaroslav Vrba, Petr Znachor, Viera Straškrábová, Eliška Zapomělová

Ph.D. Students:
Kateřina Bernardová, Vojtěch Kasalický, Dagmar Sirová, Pavel Rychtecký

Laboratory assistants:
Alena Hartmanová, Marie Kupková, Radka Malá, Marie Štojdlová, Martina Vožechová


The department is topically subdivided into two working units:

Aquatic microbial ecology group
Phytoplankton ecology group

The members of the department primarily deal with carbon and nutrient flows through microbial food webs in systems of different trophic status. The principal questions investigated are related to elucidating the major processes affecting:
(i) bacterial growth (nutrient and substrate availability) and mortality rates (protistan bacterivory and viral lysis),
(ii) decomposing processes in natural aquatic ecosystems, and
(iii) factors shaping microbial community composition from the level of bacteria and protozoa to algae,
(iv) specific role of phytoplankton, especially autotrophic picoplankton in food webs,
(v) formation of cyanobacterial water blooms, and
(vi) taxonomical composition and functioning of cyanobacterial and algal assemblages.
Specific attention is paid to assessments of bacterial production and protozoan grazing, bacterial utilization of phytoplankton exudates, extracellular enzyme activities of bacteria and algae, and overall carbon and phosphorus flows through differently structured microbial food webs in relationship to taxonomy, biology and ecology of the key microbial and algal species or at least taxonomically well-defined microbial groups mediating these processes. To address the key questions, frequently an approach combining experimental laboratory models (continuous and batch culture systems) and differently designed field studies is applied.