We are an emerging research team that uses insect as a model system to study processes leading to (repeated) evolution of adaptations involved in defense and symbiosis. We use termites and other insects living in symbiosis with termites as our main study subjects. Our research starts with field sampling and field observations and continues to wet lab and in silico. We construct molecular phylogenies and perform comparative genomics and transcriptomics of selected species along phylogenies to infer trajectories of genome changes. We use X-ray microtomographic imaging to visualize the external and internal anatomy of insects and to infer the patterns of phenotypic evolution. Our long-term research goal is to answer how evolutionary processes in termites and their symbionts traverse the vast space of theoretically possible phenotypes and why some adaptations evolve many times convergently.
We are currently recruiting two PhD and one postdoc in phylogenetics, genomics, and comparative phenotypic analysis to start in the second half of 2023. See Available Positions for more details.
Zájemci o bakalářské a magisterské práce jsou vítáni. Pokud Vás cokoliv z našich témat zaujalo, neváhejte napsat Alešovi na buceka [at] ftz.czu.cz. Projekty zahrnují různou míru bioinformatiky, práce v genetické laboratoři, práce s laboratorními chovy hmyzu a práci s tomografickými zobrazovacími metodami a daty. Máme tak prostor vymyslet projekt, který Vás bude motivovat a naučí dovednosti, které zhodnotíte v budoucí kariéře.
