Čepička lab

16/07/2026

Congratulations to Jolana for her first paper! Dientamoeba fragilis is a human intestinal parasite traditionally classified as an amoeba, although it is in fact an extremely unusual trichomonad. This study contributes to our understanding of its epidemiology and reports the first documented case of a mixed infection with two D. fragilis genotypes.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10096-026-05583-5?utm_source=rct_congratemailt&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=oa_20260716&utm_content=10.1007%2Fs10096-026-05583-5&fbclid=IwY2xjawTFxzxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFjZjRGTkdqeVlLNDZLSkVNc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpJmYqV6tvrmOMvLqWV7DAWgDLth-pX2Vlun3Sbu-kEtNjZ50rIKYIjSjggB_aem_WOeMG6VKMBHUzsHLqkEmvA

Aim This study examined the prevalence, epidemiological characteristics, and genotype diversity of Dientamoeba fragilis in a Czech hospital-based cohort. Methods Patients undergoing routine parasitological diagnostics at the Regional Hospital Liberec (Liberec) between 2022 and 2023 formed the primar...

04/06/2026

Flagellates of Anaeramoeba spotted again!
We first described Anaeramoeba, the only genus of the phylum Anaeramoebae, in 2017 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1434461017300615), and in 2021 we showed that it represents a deep-branching eukaryotic lineage (https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)01364-6). These organisms are obligate anaerobes and host very interesting bacterial sulfate-reducing symbionts (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-54102-7).
As the name Anaeramoeba suggests, they are amoebae. That might sound a bit dull to some, although we are very fond of amoebae. However, at least two of the currently seven known Anaeramoeba species also produce flagellated stages. And those are extremely peculiar. Among other things, they possess almost frighteningly thick flagella. Today, we observed Anaeramoeba flagellates again for the first time in about 10 years! Let’s hope we can figure out what happened to those poor flagella.

15/05/2026

Happy to share that Marek V. was awarded a Česká parazitologická společnost prize for the best first author publication for his Nature paper about Solarion. Congratulations!🎉

Ceny ČPS za rok 2025 znají své vítěze, gratulujeme!

▶️ Nejlepší diplomová práce: Mgr. Dan Butula (Přírodovědecká fakulta Univerzity Karlovy) za práci: Migrace a patogenita schistosom v plicích myší a imunitní odpověď hostitele.

▶️ Nejlepší prvoautorský článek: Mgr. Marek Valt (Přírodovědecká fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, Čepička lab) za publikaci: Rare microbial relict sheds light on an ancient eukaryotic supergroup.

Podrobnosti zveřejníme v dalších Zprávách. https://www.parazitologie.eu/ceny

22/04/2026

A new lab photo at a conference (we will photoshop Matyáš and Aneta in later).

08/04/2026

Congratulations to Marek (and Ivan) on receiving the Bedřich Hrozný Award for the discovery of Solarion arienae! Bedřich Hrozný was a former rector of Charles University and became famous for deciphering Hittite language in 1917, which made him the father of Hittitology.

30/03/2026

The known diversity of anaerobic scuticociliates has just taken a big leap forward! Katka’s new paper introduces several new genera and species of marine anaerobic ciliates from our recently established family Anaerocyclidiidae. So Anaerocyclidium finally has company.

They may look modest under the microscope, but the anaerocyclidiids have plenty of interesting biology going on. One of the most striking things are their transitions from marine to freshwater environments and then back again. And to make things even more intriguing, they live in close cooperation with syntrophic endo‑ and ectosymbionts that help them survive in low‑oxygen conditions. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42995-025-00350-5

12/03/2026

Odontostomatea is a remarkably understudied class of anaerobic ciliates. In our new paper, we provide the most comprehensive revision of the group to date, including several newly discovered species and genera, among them the striking Limnomylestoma shuriken and Mircalla polidorii. We also uncover extensive environmental diversity within odontostomateans. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42995-026-00352-x

26/02/2026

Happy cells of the litostome ciliate Troglodytella abrassarti freshly collected from chimpanzee f***s. Video by Michael Kotyk.

16/02/2026

Today is the birth anniversary of Ernst Haeckel, the father of protistology.

10/02/2026

UV autofluorescence of methanogenic archaeal endosymbionts of the anaerobic ciliate Urostomides striatus (Armophorea: Metopida: Apometopidae).
The "empty" space in the cell center is the macronucleus.
Image by Petra Malinská, a Master’s student in Čepička lab.