In collaboration with the laboratory of Prof. Reppert, in the monarch eyes we have identified photoreceptors specialized for detection of polarized light in the UV spectrum. Furthermore we have discovered and characterized a molecular neural wiring connecting circadian biological clock with the signal pathway of polarized light entering the brain of the migratory butterfly.
This book, as the first volume of the "Illustrated Catalogue of Aphididae in the Korean Peninsula", includes only one subfamily, Aphidinae, the major group of the family Aphididae.
RNA interference (RNAi) allows gene silencing, and thus analyses of gene function, even in non-model organisms, where targeted mutagenesis is not feasible. The main problem is how to deliver the interfering double-stranded RNA, sufficient for a specific degradation of the target mRNA, into the organism's cells. We have solved this problem using a recombinant virus Sindbis.
Czech Republic occupies a keyposition in the research of scree slopes, related to its geological and geomorphological structure and position in the centre of Europe.
The dominance of the diploid state in higher organisms, with haploidy generally confined to the gametic phase, has led to the perception that diploidy is favored by selection. This view is highlighted by the fact that no known female organism within the Metazoa exists exclusively in a haploid state.
We found a group of 6 related Drosophila proteins, named ADGF-A,-A2,-B,-C,-D,-E, similar to the enzyme adenosine deaminase. ADGFs have strong adenosine deaminase activity and they are also involved in the regulation of mitosis.
Insect science cannot advance without genetic manipulations that would provide causal evidence of gene function. We report heritable germline transformation of the silkmoth Bombyx mori with the piggyBac transposon.
During gene activation, coactivators mediate the effect of DNA-binding transcription factors to RNA polymerase. Although coactivators are important for transcription, their in vivo roles are poorly understood. We show that an evolutionarily conserved but unique coactivator MBF1 cooperates with a bZIP transcription factor TDF (Tracheae defective) during the formation of the tracheal and nervous...
