We study many aspects of termite biology and only recently, we extended our focus to other saproxylic insects as well. We use various methodological approaches, starting from behavioral ecology, through structural biology to molecular biology. We use a diverse set of devices (listed below) to conduct our research.
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Molecular equipment: repetman Gilson, pipettes Eppendorf research plus, centrifuge with temperature settings: Centrifuge 5424 R 2x, Centrifuge 5430 1x, concentrator /vacufuge, mixer mill Retch 400M, autoclaves: veritcal 3850 ELV and benchtop 2840 EL Tuttnauer, Milli-Q water systém, laminar flow, cycler Eppendorf nexus Gradient 1x, cycler Eppendorf nexus 1x, Qubit 3.0, Thermo Scientific™ NanoDrop 2000c full-spectrum, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, StepOnePlus ™ Real-Time PCR System from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer for RNA quality check, NGS sequencer MiSeq in Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Praha Krč.
- Microscopy: fume box, chemical fridge and freezer, oven, hotplate, knifemaker, fully motorized upright microscope microscope Nikon Eclipse Ni, disecting microscope Nikon SMZ745T combined with camera Nikon DS - Fi2, microtom Reichert-Jung Ultracut.
- Photography and recording: All Canon, namely EOS 5D SR, 6D, 60D, 700D; lenses Canon EF 50/1,4 USM, EF 100/2,8 L IS Macro USM, EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM, MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x, Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 EX II DG HSM, flashes Canon SpeedLite 430 EX II, Canon SpeedLite MT-24EX, tripods Gitzo GH2780QR + GT2531, Vanguard Alta+ 264AB 100.
- Breeds: two breeding rooms of 12 m2 each, with independently controlled temperature and option to use red light illumination, one set to tropical mode and the other to sub-tropical mode.