Michal Sochor

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Researcher at Crop Research Institute & Palacký University in Olomouc

Apomicts often show geographic distributions different from their sexual relatives, a phenomenon known as geographic parthenogenesis. Traits that have been suggested to influence the likelihood that apomicts and sexuals co-occur include those responsible for resource acquisition and reproductive traits. Here we test the contribution of these traits...

Mycoheterotrophy is a form of parasitism that exploits the mycorrhizal networks of autotrophic plants. It occurs in two main forms -full and partial, and is found in plants across various climatic zones. Borneo is a global center of mycoheterotrophic diversity, with over 90 species of full mycoheterotrophs from 21 genera and seven families, repres...

The new genus Luteodiscus is established to accommodate two species of bryoparasitic, helotialean discomycetes which are characterized by small, yellow, subsessile or short-stipitate, smooth to finely fimbriate apothecia that turn irreversibly bright rose-pink to wine-red in KOH. One of them, L. epibryus, was previously placed in Phialea and later...

https://ssrn.com/abstract=4919443

Octospora pulchrispora (Pezizales)-a new bryophilous species on Cynodontium polycarpon.-Czech Mycol. 76(1): 45-62. Octospora pulchrispora Sochorová et Eckstein is described as a new species based on finds from the Czech Republic. It features a remarkable ascospore ornamentation formed by low, branching, cyanophilous ridges. It parasitises the acroc...

The occurrence of Gastrodia sabahensis is reported for the first time from Brunei Darussalam representing the new generic record for the country. Morphological description based on the discovered plants along with photo plates, notes on distribution, ecology and conservation status have been provided. additionally, a determination key for all Gastr...

Background and Aims Rubus ser. Glandulosi represents a unique model of geographic parthenogenesis on a homoploid (2n = 4x) level. We aim to characterize evolutionary and phylogeographic patterns in this taxon and shed light on the geographic differentiation of apomicts and sexuals. Ultimately, we aim to evaluate the importance of phylogeography in...

Key message The combination of a flow cytometric seed screen and genotyping of each single seed offers a cost-effective approach to detecting complex reproductive pathways in flowering plants. Abstract Reproduction may be seen as one of the driving forces of evolution. Flow cytometric seed screen and genotyping of parents and progeny are commonly...

West Asia, with its high mountain ranges and glacial refugia, stands out as a biodiversity hotspot for various plant taxa, including the taxonomically complex Rubus subgen. Rubus. Despite this significance, our understanding of the evolutionary processes shaping this group in the region has been limited. We employed an integrative approach combinin...

Asexual organisms often differ in their geographic distributions from their sexual relatives. This phenomenon, termed geographic parthenogenesis, has long been known, but the underlying factors behind its diverse patterns have been under dispute. Particularly problematic is an association between asexuality and polyploidy in most taxa. Here, we pre...

Rubus ser. Glandulosi represents a unique model of geographic parthenogenesis on a homoploid (4x) level. We employed double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRADseq) in 587 individuals of different Rubus taxa and modelling of suitable climate to characterize evolutionary and phylogeographic patterns and shed light on the geograph...

Sochorová, Z., Vega, M., Hernanz, J., Eckstein, J. & Sochor, M. 2023. Lamprospora aberrans sp. nov. (Pezizales) – die erste Art der Gattung Lamprospora mit behaarten Apothecien. – Herzogia 36: 206 –221. Lamprospora aberrans wird als neue Art mit Aufsammlungen aus Spanien (Stadt Madrid und Mallorca) und Kroatien (Nationalpark Paklenica) beschrieben....

The new genus Bryorutstroemia is established for the red-brown, stipitate, bryoparasitic discomycete Helotium fulvum Boud. Combined phylogenetic analysis of ITS and LSU rDNA and EF1α revealed that Bryorutstroemia fulva belongs to the sclerotiniaceous clade, which comprises the paraphyletic families Rutstroemiaceae and Sclerotiniaceae. Bryorutstroem...

Background: South African brambles (Rubus L., Rosaceae) represent a complex group of six native species and at least 12 introduced taxa with different ploidy levels and varying tendencies to hybridisation. The role of hybridisation, intro-gression and apomixis in the ongoing evolution has been hypothesised based on morphological observations, but i...

We studied the taxonomy of Pluteus romellii, and morphologically similar Holarctic species in the /romellii clade of section Celluloderma, using morphological and molecular data (nrITS, TEF1-α). Pluteus romellii is lectotypified and epitypified and accepted as an exclusively Eurasian species. Pluteus lutescens and P. pallescens are considered synon...

Rubus is notorious for its taxonomic complexity. Although some light has been recently shed on the taxonomy of the species from the Greater Cape Floristic Region in South Africa, many questions remain unanswered. This contribution is based on extensive field and herbarium studies across South Africa and aims at clarifying Rubus taxonomy in the regi...

Achlorophyllous, mycoheterotrophic plants often have an elaborate mycorrhizal colonization pattern, allowing a sustained benefit from external fungal root penetrations. The present study reveals the root anatomy and mycorrhizal pattern of eight mycoheterotrophic Thismia spp. (Thismiaceae), all of which show separate tissue compartments segregating...

Background: An undescribed species of Pseudoplectania was found during an excursion in Mpumalanga.Objectives: To describe Pseudoplectania africana M.Carbone & Sochorová as a new species and to evaluate presence of crystals as a diagnostic character in Pseudoplectania.Methods: The description was based on standard macro- and microscopical methods. P...

The full PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.czechmycology.org/_cmo/CM74101.pdf The bryophilous ascomycete Octospora meslinii is a rarely reported species growing exclusively in cushions of the saxicolous moss Grimmia pulvinata. The taxon has been misunderstood in the past and hitherto reliably only reported from France and Germany. Many recent...

Rubus ser. Subthyrsoidei is a particularly intricate group within the sect. Corylifolii due to its phenologically and ecologically driven plasticity and variability. In the recent study we investigated the narrower-leaved biotypes of the series in southeastern central Europe that represent a distinct entity often called "Rubus gothicus group". We r...

Heterotrophic plants provide intriguing examples of reductive evolution. This is especially evident in the reduction of their plastid genomes, which can potentially proceed toward complete genome loss. Several milestones at the beginning of this path of degradation have been described; however, little is known about the latest stages of plastome re...

Octospora doebbeleri, a new bryophilous species infecting rhizoids of the acrocarpous moss Dicranoweisia cirrata, is described and illustrated based on collections from the Czech Republic. The delineation of the new species, based on the unique set of morphological characters, is also supported by phylogenetic analysis of LSU and SSU nrDNA and EF1α...

Česká kolekce genových zdrojů lociky seté (Lactuca sativa L.) zahrnuje v současné době 849 položek, přičemž na základě pasportních dat více než 30 % kolekce tvoří pravděpodobné duplicity. U 32 vybraných položek odrůd Král Máje, Kamenáč, Lednický, Achát a Kunovický byla provedena analýza deseti SSR markerů u tří jedinců z každé položky a fenotypizac...

The bryophilous ascomycete Octospora svrcekii, belonging to the section Wrightoideae, has so far been reported from only three localities in the world. New collections from Albania, Austria, Croatia, France, Slovakia and Spain have enabled a better understanding of its variability, ecology, distribution and phylogenetic relationships with other tax...

Sciaphila atra (Triuridaceae) from northern Borneo is described and illustrated. This species is similar to Sciaphila thaidanica from northern Thailand, but differs in distinctly darker stem and flowers, lower number of flowers, larger female flowers which usually have more tepals and wider tepals of male flowers. Taxonomy of Sciaphila secundiflora...

Fairy lanterns (Thismia; Thismiaceae, Dioscoreales) are believed to be extremely rare and narrowly endemic plants. Despite that, many new Thismia populations have been recently discovered in Borneo. These are summarized and discussed here and all twelve Bornean Thismia species with multiple localities are reviewed. New localities of T. brunneomitra...

Thismia minutissima, a distinctive minute species of the mycoheterotrophic genus Thismia is described and illustrated. It was found in several localities in mountain areas of Sarawak, Malaysia. The new species is superficially similar to members of Thismia sect. Rodwaya from Australia and New Zealand but differs by several distinctive morphological...

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Antarctica, Cladosporium arenosum from marine sediment sand. Argentina, Kosmimatamyces alatophylus (incl. Kosmimatamyces gen. nov.) from soil. Australia, Aspergillus banksianus, Aspergillus kumbius, Aspergillus luteorubrus, Aspergillus malvicolor and Asp...

Lactuca dregeana DC. is a rare and poorly understood southern African endemic taxon currently known only from three localities in the Northern Cape. It is evidently closely related to Eurasian and north African L. serriola L. and cultivated L. sativa L., and has high potential for utilisation in lettuce breeding. However, only three accessions of t...

Thismia is a genus of > 80 mycoheterotrophic species characterized by a peculiar appearance and complex floral morphology. A significant proportion of the species and morphological diversity of Thismia has only been uncovered in the past two decades, and new discoveries continue to be made. Given that many new data have recently become available, a...

Thismia ornata and T. coronata (Thismiaceae), two new species from Sarawak (Malaysian Borneo) are described and illustrated. Thismia ornata belongs to T. sect. Thismia subsect. Odoardoa and occurs at several localities in western Sarawak around the city of Kuching. This species has been misidentified as T. aseroe until now, although the two species...

Ploidy can serve as an excellent diagnostic character and proxy for evolutionary and reproductive behaviour, particularly in taxonomically complicated apomictic genera. In Rubus, ploidy level has so far been established for 230 European species (ca 30% of the total), mainly from Western or central Europe. We present the first DNA ploidy data for 25...

Octospora conidiophora is described as a new species, based on collections from South Africa. It is characterised by apothecia with a distinct margin, smooth or finely warted ellipsoid ascospores, stiff, thick-walled hyaline hairs, warted mycelial hyphae and growth on pleurocarpous mosses Trichosteleum perchlorosum and Sematophyllum brachycarpum (H...

Supplementary table 2. List of analysed Morchella specimens with collection data, determination and Genbank accession numbers.

The phylogentic diversity of the genus Morchella has only been sporadically studied in Central Europe. In this study, a molecular taxonomic revision of the Morchella species of the Czech Republic was performed using available fungarium specimens, fresh collections, and axenic cultures. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on either ITS or five-loc...

Supplementary Data: DNA sequence alignments.

Supplementary table 1. List of localities of mulch morels from which more than one ascoma was analyzed.

Ficaria is a taxonomically intriguing polyploid complex with high morphological variability. Both hybridization and polyploidization have been suggested as the main evolutionary forces behind the high morphological variability in this genus; however, detailed studies are lacking. In Central Europe, two Ficaria taxa (diploid F. calthifolia and tetra...

In total, 117 individual samples from 39 accessions of Lactuca sativa were selected from the Czech national collection of lettuce with the aim to quantify and compare patterns of genetic and phenotypic variability within and among lettuce accessions and to propose a rapid, reliable and inexpensive method for verification of possible duplicates. We...

Thismia kelabitiana, a new unique species from the Sarawak state of Malaysia in the island of Borneo is described and illustrated. This new species is not similar to any species of Thismia described so far especially by having a unique form of mitre and outer perianth lobes deeply divided into 8–10 acute lobes and forming striking fringe around per...

Rubus L. is a highly diverse and taxonomically complex genus with a worldwide distribution. Although southern Africa is not a major centre of Rubus diversity, a number of indigenous and naturalised taxa have been recorded from the region, although their taxonomy, nomenclature and evolution are either confused or poorly studied at best. This paper r...

Lamprospora sylvatica is described as a new species based on finds from Ukraine, Slovakia, Germany and Norway. It is characterised by the combination of the following features: pinkish, orange to reddish-orange apothecia with a fimbriate margin, globose ascospores with more or less regular areolate ornamentation, infecting strong rhizoids of Dicran...

Fairy lanterns (Thismia Griff.) is a genus of poorly known mycoheterotrophic plants with unclear infrageneric classification. Commonly used approaches that utilize just a single or few traits in higher-level taxonomy lead to an apparently artificial system. In this contribution, four new species from Sarawak, northern Borneo, are described and illu...

Background – Two new species of the sect. Thismia subsect. Odoardoa, Thismia cornuta Hroneš, Sochor & Dančák and Thismia pallida Hroneš, Dančák & Rejžek, from Malaysian Borneo are described and illustrated. The former species is distributed in the Bario area of the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, and the latter occurs in the SAFE (Stability of Altere...

Thismia neptunis, as many of its congeners, is a poorly understood species that has only been known from the type collection and its limited original description. In January 2017 it was rediscovered in the type area in the Gunung Matang massif, western Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia. The paper provides the amended description and drawings of the species...

The triploid complex of Rubus montanus (Rubus ser. Discolores, Rosaceae) is a particularly intri-cate group due to its plasticity and variability. The representatives of this group are, notwithstand-ing the high number of taxon names published, often considered a single species (Rubus montanus s.l.). In the course of extensive field studies and her...

Two new hepaticolous ascomycetes from the Kelabit Highlands (Sarawak, Borneo) are described and illustrated. Both of them infect thallose liverworts growing in damp and shaded localities. Octosporopsis erinacea parasitizing Dumortiera hirsuta (Marchantiopsida) has tiny, light yellow, rimless, setose apothecia, usually 8-spored asci and ellipsoid as...

Aim: Apomixis, i.e. asexual reproduction via seeds, occurs in many plant taxa of diverse phylogenetic origins and has resulted in a high abundance and wide distribution of some groups. When and where apomicts arose and how their evolution is linked to their sexual ancestors is poorly understood. We aimed at detecting phylogeographical patterns in R...

Two of the five species of European blackberry ( Rubus fruticosus L. aggregate) along the West Coast of the United States are considered invasive. They are also similar in appearance. Biological control of invasive blackberry by Phragmidium violaceum , causal agent of a rust disease, had been under consideration when rust-diseased blackberry was di...

Jafnea semitosta is an ascomycete (Pyronemataceae, Pezizales) originating from North America and spreading uncommonly in Europe. Its genome size was measured via flow cytometry of fruiting bodies from five localities in the Czech and Slovak Republic. The nuclear 1C DNA content was estimated at 3.706±0.011 pg (3.625±0.011 Gbp) which repre-sents the...

Background and Aims: Rubus subgenus Rubusis a group of mostly apomictic and polyploid species with a complicated taxonomy and history of ongoing hybridization. The only polyploid series with prevailing sexuality is the series Glandulosi, although the apomictic series Discolores and Radula also retain a high degree of sexuality, which is influenced...

A new species belonging to the mycoheterotrophic genus Thismia is described and illustrated. Thismia inconspicua was found in a lowland mixed dipterocarp forest in Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei Darussalam. It is characterized by its sepia-brown perianth with free equal lobes with very short terminal appendages, two pairs of appendages on conn...

Belonioscyphella hypnorum is published from the Czech Republic for the first time. It was found in three localities in Moravia — in all cases in calcareous areas at an altitude around 300 m asl., on wood, soil or a limestone boulder covered with its hosts. Didymodon rigidulus, Eurhynchium schleicheri, Homalia tricho-manoides, Orthotrichumsp. and Ra...

The Caucasus is a biodiversity hotspot of global significance, containing a number of highly diverse and species-rich plant taxa. The region is also thought to be an important evolutionary hotspot for Rubus subgenus Rubus (brambles). However, Caucasian brambles have only been poorly studied to date and our knowledge of their evolutionary mechanisms...

This paper presents the results of extensive field research on the occurrence of RubusL. species in the Czech Republic, especially in the frontier areas near the German border. In this area, Rubus adornatus, R. fasciculatiformisand R. perlonguswere newly discovered. The other species, R. ambulansandR. stohrii, were discovered in the eastern and...

New species are generated by many means, among which hybridization plays an important role. Interspecific hybrids can form isolated evolutionary units, especially when mechanisms increasing viability and fertility, like polyploidy and apomixis, are involved. A good model system to study reticulate evolution in plants is Rubus subgen. Rubus (bramble...

Ačkoli bylo světélkování u hub doloženo již ve starověku, intenzivnějšího vědeckého studia se tomuto jevu dostává teprve v posledních letech. Článek shrnuje naše dosavadní poznání bioluminiscence u hub z hlediska evolučního, ekologického i fyziologického. Jeho součástí jsou i fotografie dvou tropických druhů se světélkujícími plodnicemi – Mycena ch...

Wild river gravel banks (RGB) represent an extremely fragile biotope that is significantly endangered by human activities due to its fragmentation over the past century. The consequences of such processes were studied using the endangered violet willow (Salix daphnoides) at the westernmost foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. We quantified popula...

A new species of Thismia (Thismiaceae) from Borneo is described. Thismia hexagona was discovered in 2013 in lowland mixed dipterocarp forest in Ulu Temburong, Brunei Darussalam. The species is circumscribed, illustrated and its position within the Malesian species of the genus is characterised by insertion into the existing determination key. Its m...

Many populations of high-mountainous relic dioecious willows in Central Europe only consist of female individuals and are thus limited in their reproductive potential. We completed micropropagation experiments with shoot apexes and nodal segments of common and endangered willow (Salix) species, which can help to reintroduce autochthonous genotypes...