Corporate philanthropic giving, advertising intensity, and industry competition level

This article examines whether the likelihood and amount of firm charitable giving in response to catastrophic events are related to firm advertising intensity, and whether industry competition level moderates this relationship. Using data on Chinese firms' philanthropic response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, we find that firm advertising intensity is positively associated with both the probability and the amount of corporate giving. The results also indicate that this positive advertising intensity-philanthropic giving relationship is stronger in competitive industries, and firms in competitive industries are more likely to donate. This study thus provides evidence suggesting that even in the wake of catastrophic events, corporate philanthropic giving is strategic.BusinessEthicsSSCI23ARTICLE139-529

Polyploidy Index and Its Implications for the Evolution of Polyploids

Polyploidy has contributed to the divergence and domestication of plants; however, estimation of the relative roles that different types of polyploidy have played during evolution has been difficult. Unbalanced and balanced gene removal was previously related to allopolyploidies and autopolyploidies, respectively. Here, to infer the types of polyploidies and evaluate their evolutionary effects, we devised a statistic, the Polyploidy-index or P-index, to characterize the degree of divergence between subgenomes of a polyploidy, to find whether there has been a balanced or unbalanced gene removal from the homoeologous regions. Based on a P-index threshold of 0.3 that distinguishes between known or previously inferred allo- or autopolyploidies, we found that 87.5% of 24 angiosperm paleo-polyploidies were likely produced by allopolyploidizations, responsible for establishment of major tribes such as Poaceae and Fabaceae, and large groups such as monocots and eudicots. These findings suggest that >99.7% of plant genomes likely derived directly from allopolyploidies, with autopolyploidies responsible for the establishment of only a few small genera, including Glycine, Malus, and Populus, each containing tens of species. Overall, these findings show that polyploids with high divergence between subgenomes (presumably allopolyploids) established the major plant groups, possibly through secondary contact between previously isolated populations and hybrid vigor associated with their re-joining

Paleo-polyploidization in Lycophytes

Lycophytes and seed plants constitute the typical vascular plants. Lycophytes have been thought to have no paleo-polyploidization although the event is known to be critical for the fast expansion of seed plants. Here, genomic analyses including the homologous gene dot plot analysis detected multiple paleo-polyploidization events, with one occurring approximately 13-15 million years ago (MYA) and another about 125-142 MYA, during the evolution of the genome of Selaginella moellendorffii, a model lycophyte. In addition, comparative analysis of reconstructed ancestral genomes of lycophytes and angiosperms suggested that lycophytes were affected by more paleo-polyploidization events than seed plants. Results from the present genomic analyses indicate that paleo-polyploidization has contributed to the successful establishment of both lineages-lycophytes and seed plants-of vascular plants

Deciphering the high-quality genome sequence of coriander that causes controversial feelings

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L. 2n = 2x = 22), a plant from the Apiaceae family, also called cilantro or Chinese parsley, is a globally important crop used as vegetable, spice, fragrance and traditional medicine. Here, we report a high-quality assembly and analysis of its genome sequence, anchored to 11 chromosomes, with total length of 2118.68 Mb and N50 scaffold length of 160.99 Mb. We found that two whole-genome duplication events, respectively, dated to similar to 45-52 and similar to 54-61 million years ago, were shared by the Apiaceae family after their split from lettuce. Unbalanced gene loss and expression are observed between duplicated copies produced by these two events. Gene retention, expression, metabolomics and comparative genomic analyses of terpene synthase (TPS) gene family, involved in terpenoid biosynthesis pathway contributing to coriander's special flavour, revealed that tandem duplication contributed to coriander TPS gene family expansion, especially compared to their carrot counterparts. Notably, a TPS gene highly expressed in all 4 tissues and 3 development stages studied is likely a major-effect gene encoding linalool synthase and myrcene synthase. The present genome sequencing, transcriptome, metabolome and comparative genomic efforts provide valuable insights into the genome evolution and spice trait biology of Apiaceae and other related plants, and facilitated further research into important gene functions and crop improvement

Corporate Philanthropic Disaster Response and Ownership Type: Evidence from Chinese Firms’ Response to the Sichuan Earthquake

catastrophic events, corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, ownership type,