Our laboratory, located in Prague’s Krč district,
deals with the analyses of microorganisms found in humans and animals.
We focus on hard-to-collect anaerobic bacteria and fungi
inhabiting the digestive tract as well as the skin, lungs or biogas installations.
The animal gut microbiota is irreplaceable
- it participates in the decomposition of nutrients
and the production of metabolites beneficial to the host,
stimulates the host’s immune system
and prevents its contamination by harmful microorganisms.
Furthermore, it also plays a role in a number of diseases of civilization
such as obesity, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, tumours
as well as diseases seemingly unrelated to the digestive tract
such as autism and Alzheimer’s disease.
We aim to describe the changes and importance of microbiota
in the course of these diseases
and are interested in the effects of diet or treatment on the host microbiome.
By analysing the skin microbiome of experimental minipigs,
we were able to detect crucial differences between healthy skin and melanomas.
We have identified bacteria that are associated with tumour growth.
In cooperation with physicians, we examined the human gut microbiome
affected by inflammatory bowel diseases and its changes
during faecal microbiota transplantation used as experimental treatment.
We are also interested in the role of microorganisms in the environment
such as the link between the rumen microbiota and methane emission in beef cattle.
We use two approaches in our research:
The first is the isolation and description of pure strains of bacteria and fungi.
We focus on probiotic bacteria in humans,
animals and insects found mostly in the digestive tract.
Our team has already described two dozen of new taxa within these bacteria.
The second approach is of molecular genetic nature.
It involves the analysis of complex environmental samples
such as chyme, faeces, stool, biowaste or rumen fluid.
For this purpose, we perform DNA isolation,
PCR amplification of microbial genes
and their subsequent sequencing and analysis.
The results of our work are regularly presented at international conferences
and published in prestigious scientific journals.
In addition, the education of new scientists also forms an integral part of our work.
Our team has hosted a number of students:
from high school students to graduates and PhD students
from both Czech and foreign universities.