Home Research groups Wide Hybridization Group

Wide Hybridization Group

Our group is studying various aspects of interspecific and intergeneric hybridization and polyploidization. We use molecular cytogenetics, flow cytometry, bioinformatics, genomics and molecular biology techiques to analyze genome composition, evolution and function of hybrid genomes. Our objects are Festuca x Lolium hybrids (Festulolium) and hybrids of wheat x rye and wheat x barley.

Our current topics cover:

  •           meiosis and genome stability of wide hybrids
  •           3D organization of hybrid nucleus
  •           parental-specific gene expression
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News:

 
  • June 26, 2019: David was elected as a new Chair of Eucarpia, Session Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses. Big honour for the group! 
  • June 24, 2019: Our proceedings papers have been published in Grassland Science in Europe 24: 259-261 (Genome organization and (in)stability of wide hybrids) and 321-323 (Multi-species phenotyping of drought in the Festuca-Lolium complex). 
  • June 04, 2019: Our paper Selective Elimination of Parental Chromatin from Introgression Cultivars of xFestulolium (Festuca×Lolium) has been published in Sustainability, special issue Grass Traits for Ecosystem Services and Sustainability edited by Prof. Mike Humphreys
  • May 08, 2019: Paper entitled Accessing a Russian Wheat Aphid Resistance Gene in Bread Wheat by Long-Read Technologies of Hana Simková and her coleagues with little contribution of David has been published in Plant Genome. Congrats to Simkova Group!
  • April 25, 2019: Paper entitled "Misdivision of Telocentrics and Isochromosomes in Wheat" of David Kopecký and Adam Lukaszewski was highlighted as "Editor's Choice" in Cytogenetic and Genome Research.
  • April 10, 2019: Our paper "Inter-morphotype hybridization in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.): Exploration of meiotic irregularities and potential for breeding" has been accepted in Euphytica.

  • March 25, 2019: Our paper "Instability of Alien Chromosome Introgressions in Wheat Associated with Improper Positioning In the Nucleus" has been published in International Journal of Molecular Sciences

  • February 25, 2019: Our paper "Out-of-position telomeres in meiotic leptotene appear responsible for chiasmate pairing in an inversion heterozygote in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)" has been published in Chromosoma.

  • December 12, 2018: Our paper "Misdivision of telocentrics and isochromosomes in wheat" has been accepted in Cytogenetic and Genome Research.

  • September 2018: Marco Mendes, visiting PhD student from Brazil, joined our team. Welcome!

Vacancies:

MSc. theses:

The mechanisms responsible for genome dominance in Festuca x Lolium hybrids (covers microscopy, molecular cytogenetics, phenotyping)

The genome instability within Festuca x Lolium hybrids (covers plant crosses, molecular cytogenetics and microscopy)


Other options (BSc. and Ph.D. level): If you think you are real hard-worker willing to do overtime work in lab with a lot of enthusiasm and responsibility, you are welcome to contact us on kopecky@ueb.cas.cz

Group members

Leader
David Kopecký Ph.D.
Ph.D. student
Kateřina Perničková MSc.
Ph.D. student
Marek Glombik MSc.
visiting Ph.D. student
Marco Tulio Mendes Ferreira MSc.

Projects

Nuclear organization in interspecific plant hybrids
Leader
David Kopecký Ph.D.
The plant cell nucleus is enclosed within the nuclear envelope harboring chromosome territories (CTs) and various nuclear bodies. It seems that the spatial organization of chromosomes is nonrandom and is characterized by many local and long-range contacts among genes and regulatory elements. Thus, it is evident that the architecture of interphase chromosomes plays a role in the regulation of gene expression. The introduction of sophisticated high . . .

Publications