Seed dimorphism nutrients and salinity differentially affect seed traits of the desert halophyte Suaeda aralocaspica via multiple maternal effects.

Background: Maternal effects may influence a range of seed traits simultaneously and are likely to be context-dependent. Disentangling the interactions of plant phenotype and growth environment on various seed traits is important for understanding regeneration and establishment of species in natural environments. Here, we used the seed-dimorphic plant Suaeda aralocaspica to test the hypothesis that seed traits are regulated by multiple maternal effects.Results: Plants grown from brown seeds had a higher brown:black seed ratio than plants from black seeds, and germination percentage of brown seeds was higher than that of black seeds under all conditions tested. However, the coefficient of variation (CV) for size of black seeds was higher than that of brown seeds. Seeds had the smallest CV at low nutrient and high salinity for plants from brown seeds and at low nutrient and low salinity for plants from black seeds. Low levels of nutrients increased size and germinability of black seeds but did not change the seed morph ratio or size and germinability of brown seeds. High levels of salinity decreased seed size but did not change the seed morph ratio. Seeds from high-salinity maternal plants had a higher germination percentage regardless of level of germination salinity.Conclusions: Our study supports the multiple maternal effects hypothesis. Seed dimorphism, nutrient and salinity interacted in determining a range of seed traits of S. aralocaspica via bet-hedging and anticipatory maternal effects. This study highlights the importance of examining different maternal factors and various offspring traits in studies that estimate maternal effects on regeneration. © 2012 Wang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Accounting and social movements: An exploration of critical accounting praxis

A central tenet of critical accounting research maintains the need to challenge and change existing social relations; moving towards a more emancipated and equitable social order. The question of how critical accounting research upholds this principle has been intermittently discussed. This paper aims to engage with, and further, this discussion by contributing to research linking accounting information to social movements. The paper reviews the literature on accounting and social movements, central to which is the work of Gallhofer and Haslam; using their work as a departure point we discussion the nature of accounting information and focus on social movement unionism (SMU). Drawing on Bakhtinian dialogics and classical Marxism we develop an alternative theoretical framework to analyse an example of accounting information and social movements, covering a trade union pay dispute. The paper concludes with a discussion of the class nature of accounting information, including an exploration of the implications for accounting praxis and agency in the struggles for an emancipated world. The paper builds on the limited amount of existing work in this area; exploring the ‘class belongingness’ of accounting information and developing an understanding which can help guide the praxis of critical accounting researchers

Embryonic dormancy in seeds of Bactris gasipaes Kunth (peach-palm)

Bactris gasipaes is a domesticated palm whose fruits are of great importance for the Amazonian people and whose heart of palm is also receiving economic interest in other brazilian and Latin America regions. The aim of this study was verify embryonic dormancy and its correlation with first cataphyll emergence in B. gasipaes seeds collected from four plants at Manaus city and four others at Coari city, both in the Amazonas state, Brazil. After extraction and cleaning, some of the seeds (4 replications of 25 per plant) were sown in a seedbed with a sawdust and sand mixture as substrate, and embryos (4 replications of 10 per plant), after extraction, were inoculated into half strength Murashige and Skoog cultures. Were used 100 seeds and 40 embryo per treatment. Whole seed and embryo germination varied between the different source plants and locations, with the greatest difference observed for the emergence of first cataphyll from seeds in the seedbed. For the most part of variables, results of seed and embryo were positively associated, namely, as one went up the other also, and vice versa. These results suggesting that, at least in part, seed dormancy in Bactris gasipaes is associated with embryonic dormancy. © 2017, Associacao Brasileira de Tecnologia de Sementes. All rights reserved