Post-dispersion humidity condition alters the surface of the testa and the proportion of seeds with physical dormancy in Erythrina speciosa

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Camila R. Magalhães ◽  
Queila S. Garcia ◽  
Denise M.T. Oliveira

Abstract Seeds of Papilionoideae (Leguminosae) species lose water after dispersal, increasing the proportion of water-impermeable seeds (physical dormancy, PY). However, changes in testa structure during this process remain unknown. The present study investigated how variation in relative humidity (RH) during the post-dispersion period affects the proportion of seeds of Erythrina speciosa with PY. Seeds from two populations were stored in drier (40% RH) and wetter (80% RH) environments and periodically subjected to physiological analysis (seed water content, imbibition and germination) and structural analysis of the testa (light and scanning electron microscopy). Drier storage resulted in seed dehydration, increasing the proportion of water-impermeable seeds and closure of cracks in the mucilaginous stratum. In contrast, wetter storage led to an increase in seed water content, a decrease in the proportion of seeds with PY, and the formation of cracks. As a result of variation in environmental humidity, we conclude that changes occur in the mucilaginous stratum of seeds, altering water loss and, consequently, the proportion of seeds with PY. Environments with low humidity cause a decrease in seed water content, the closing of cracks in the mucilaginous stratum, and, consequently, an increase in the proportion of water-impermeable seeds. On the other hand, a high RH environment increases the seed water content and the formation of superficial cracks, through which water enters during imbibition, causing a decrease in the proportion of seeds with PY.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iqra Bashir ◽  
Zafar Iqbal Shams ◽  
Syed Ehteshamul-Haque ◽  
Faizah Urooj ◽  
Hafiza Farhat

Abstract The present study aims at identifying the ability of nine fungal species, which were isolated from garbage of different sites to degrade commonly used polymers, viz. polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyurethane when treated with four methods separately, viz., sterilized and unsterilized drench methods, sterilized and unsterilized mulching methods for four months. All the species considerably degraded the polymers by the above-mentioned methods. However, polystyrene demonstrated the greatest degradation compared to the other two polymers, particularly by sterilized and unsterilized drench methods. Seven fungal species caused greater than 50% weight loss of polystyrene when treated with the above-mentioned methods. Aspergillus flavus instigated the greatest weight loss (74.78 ± 2.85%) by the unsterilized drench method. Of nine, three species caused more than 50% weight loss of polyurethane by the unsterilized drench method. A. niger divulged greater than 50% weight loss of the polymer by sterilized drench method. In this study, polyethylene was found least degraded compared to polystyrene and polyurethane by the selected fungal species. Of nine, only two species, viz. Aspergillus flavus and A. niger caused a higher than 50% weight loss of polyethylene only by sterilized drench method. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of six elevated degraded polymer samples were taken to reveal the formation of spores and hyphae on the surface of the plastic. The images demonstrated the formation of cracks and crevices on the surface of different polymers by spores and the fungal hyphae.


Author(s):  
R. E. Ferrell ◽  
G. G. Paulson

The pore spaces in sandstones are the result of the original depositional fabric and the degree of post-depositional alteration that the rock has experienced. The largest pore volumes are present in coarse-grained, well-sorted materials with high sphericity. The chief mechanisms which alter the shape and size of the pores are precipitation of cementing agents and the dissolution of soluble components. Each process may operate alone or in combination with the other, or there may be several generations of cementation and solution.The scanning electron microscope has ‘been used in this study to reveal the morphology of the pore spaces in a variety of moderate porosity, orthoquartzites.


1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1081-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron F. Johnson ◽  
L. C. Sowden ◽  
Teena Walker ◽  
Bong Y. Yoo ◽  
Gode B. Calleja

The surfaces of flocculent and nonflocculent yeast cells have been examined by electron microscopy. Nonextractive preparative procedures for scanning electron microscopy allow comparison in which sharp or softened images of surface details (scars, etc.) are the criteria for relative abundance of flocculum material. Asexually flocculent budding-yeast cells cannot be distinguished from nonflocculent budding-yeast cells in scanning electron micrographs because the scar details of both are well resolved, being hard and sharp. On the other hand, flocculent fission-yeast cells are readily distinguished from nonflocculent cells because fission scars are mostly soft or obscured on flocculent cells, but sharp on nonflocculent cells. Sexually and asexually flocculent fission-yeast cells cannot be distinguished from one another as both are heavily clad in "mucilaginous" or "hairy" coverings. Examination of lightly extracted and heavily extracted flocculent fission-yeast cells by transmission electron microscopy provides micrographs consistent with the scanning electron micrographs.Key words: flocculation, budding yeast, fission yeast, scanning, transmission.


2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquim S. Silva ◽  
Francisco C. Rego ◽  
Stefano Mazzoleni

This paper presents a study where soil water content (SW) was measured before and after an experimental fire in a shrubland dominated by Erica scoparia L. in Portugal. Two plots were established: one was kept as a control plot and the other was burned by an experimental fire in June 2001. Measurements were taken before fire (2000), and after fire (2001, 2002, and 2003) at six depths down to 170 cm, from June to December. Measurements before fire allowed comparison of the two plots in terms of the SW differential, using 2000 as a reference. Results for 2001 showed that SW decreased less during the drying season (June–September) and increased more during the wetting season (October–December) in the burned plot than in the control plot. The magnitude of these effects decreased consistently in 2002 and 2003, especially at surface layers. The maximum gain of SW for the total profile in the burned plot was estimated as 105.5 mm in 2001, 70.2 mm in 2002, and 35.6 mm in 2003. The present paper discusses the mechanisms responsible for the increase in SW taking into account the characteristics of the plant community, including the root distribution, and the results of other studies.


1996 ◽  
Vol 34 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 443-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Chen ◽  
W. W. Lin ◽  
D. J. Lee

The feasibility of employment of capillary suction time (CST) for characterizing the dewaterability of excess activated sludges was examined. The CST was shown as a good index for sludge filterability, if only the product of solid concentration and average specific resistance is of interest. On the other hand, the bound water content cannot be directly evaluated from the CST data.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Barbio Rosa ◽  
Augusto Pereira Filho ◽  
Prakki Satyamurty

ABSTRACT Microphysical and thermodynamical features of two tropical systems, namely Hurricane Ivan and Typhoon Conson, and one sub-tropical, Catarina, have been analyzed based on space-born radar PR measurements available on the TRMM satellite. The procedure to classify the reflectivity profiles followed the Heymsfield et al (2000) and Steiner et al (1995) methodologies. The water and ice content have been calculated using a relationship obtained with data of the surface SPOL radar and PR in Rondonia State in Brazil. The diabatic heating rate due to latent heat release has been estimated using the methodology developed by Tao et al (1990). A more detailed analysis has been performed for Hurricane Catarina, the first of its kind in South Atlantic. High water content mean value has been found in Conson and Ivan at low levels and close to their centers. Results indicate that hurricane Catarina was shallower than the other two systems, with less water and the water was concentrated closer to its center. The mean ice content in Catarina was about 0.05 g kg-1 while in Conson it was 0.06 g kg-1 and in Ivan 0.08 g kg-1. Conson and Ivan had water content up to 0.3 g kg-1 above the 0ºC layer, while Catarina had less than 0.15 g kg-1. The latent heat released by Catarina showed to be very similar to the other two systems, except in the regions closer to the center.


1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (19) ◽  
pp. 1994-1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter L. Tobiessen ◽  
Nancy G. Slack ◽  
Keith A. Mott

The response of photosynthesis and respiration to drying was measured in four species of epiphytic mosses, Ulota crispa (Hedw.) Brid., Neckera pennata Hedw., Anomodon rugellii (C. Mull.) Keissl., and Plagiomnium cuspidatum (Hedw.) T. Kop., from habitats along a desiccation gradient. There was little difference among the mosses in these responses. The relationship of water content to water potential did differ among the mosses, with Plagiomnium, the facultative epiphyte, showing a typical response of more mesic species and the other three showing a more xeric response, i.e., water potential does not begin to fall steeply until a lower water content is reached in Ulota, Neckera, and Anomodon. Both photosynthesis and respiration in all four moss species were quite sensitive to moderate water stress.


Botany ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro E. Gundel ◽  
M. Alejandra Martínez-Ghersa ◽  
Lucas A. Garibaldi ◽  
Claudio M. Ghersa

Neotyphodium endophyte fungi are vertically transmitted symbionts of cool-season grasses. The seed phase of the grass’ life cycle appears to be critical for the persistence of the fungus. Endophyte viability decreases faster than seed viability, but little is known of the effects of this endophyte on seed viability. The endophyte could affect seed viability through changes in water content. Here, we assessed the effects of the endophyte on seed viability, the differential survival of endophyte and seed, and the effects of infection on seed water content. Viability of endophyte-infected and noninfected seeds and endophyte were evaluated over a period of 729 d under 12 controlled environmental conditions. Seed viability was reduced by the infection at high temperature and high relative humidity, but not under other conditions. Moreover, endophyte viability decreased faster than seed viability only under high humidity or high temperature. Seed water content was not affected by endophyte presence. The proportion of viable infected seeds was mainly affected by the loss in endophyte viability and secondly by the differential survival of infected and noninfected seeds. Knowledge on the relative importance of these processes is critical to understand the factors affecting the efficiency of endophyte vertical transmission and the frequency of endophyte-infected plants.


Author(s):  
Barbara Elizabeth Hanna ◽  
Peter Cowley

China Miéville’s 2009 'Weird' detective novel The City and The City is a tale of two city states, culturally distinct, between which unpoliced contact is forbidden. While residents of each city can learn about the other’s history, geography, politics, see photographs and watch news footage of the other city, relations between the two are tightly monitored and any direct contact requires a series of protocols, some of which might seem reasonable, or at least familiar: entry permits, international mail, international dialing codes, intercultural training courses. What complicates these apparently banal measures is the relative positioning of the two cities, each one around, within, amongst the other. The two populations live side by side, under a regime which requires ostentatious and systematic disregard or 'unnoticing' of the other in any context but a tightly regulated set of encounters. For all that interculturality is endemic to everyday life in the 21st century, what is striking is that critical and popular uptake of this novel so frequently decries the undesirability, the immorality even, of the cultural separation between the two populations, framing it as an allegory of unjust division within a single culture, and thus by implication endorsing the erasure of intercultural difference. We propose an alternative reading which sees this novel as exploring the management of intercultural encounters, and staging the irreducibility of intercultural difference. We examine how the intercultural is established in the novel, and ask how it compares to its representations in prevalent theoretical models, specifically that of the Third Place.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 1005-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyala Dharmaiah ◽  
C.H. Lee ◽  
B. Madavali ◽  
Soon-Jik Hong

AbstractIn the present work, we have prepared Bi2Te3nanostructures with different morphologies such as nano-spherical, nanoplates and nanoflakes obtained using various surfactant additions (EG, PVP, and EDTA) by a hydrothermal method. The shape of the nanoparticles can be controlled by addition of surfactants. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It is found that the minority BiOCl phase disappears after maintained pH at 10 with EG as surfactant. SEM bulk microstructure reveals that the sample consists of fine and coarse grains. Temperature dependence of thermoelectric properties of the nanostructured bulk sample was investigated in the range of 300-450K. The presence of nanograins in the bulk sample exhibits a reduction of thermal conductivity and less effect on electrical conductivity. As a result, a figure of merit of the sintered bulk sample reached 0.2 at 400 K. A maximum micro Vickers hardness of 102 Hv was obtained for the nanostructured sample, which was higher than the other reported results.


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