SUMMARY
Ethylene‐responsive factors (ERFs) have diverse functions in the regulation of various plant developmental processes. Here, we demonstrate the dual role of an Arabidopsis ERF gene, AtERF19, ...in regulating reproductive meristem activity and flower organ size through the regulation of genes involved in CLAVATA–WUSCHEL (CLV–WUS) and auxin signaling, respectively. We found that AtERF19 stimulated the formation of flower primordia and controlled the number of flowers produced by activating WUS and was negatively regulated by CLV3. 35S::AtERF19 expression resulted in significantly more flowers, whereas 35S::AtERF19 + SRDX dominant‐negative mutants produced fewer flowers. In addition, AtERF19 also functioned to control flower organ size by promoting the division/expansion of the cells through activating Small Auxin Up RNA Gene 32 (SAUR32), which positively regulated MYB21/24 in the auxin signaling pathway. 35S::AtERF19 and 35S::SAUR32 resulted in similarly larger flowers, whereas 35S::AtERF19 + SRDX and 35S::SAUR32‐RNAi mutants produced smaller flowers than the wild type. The functions of AtERF19 were confirmed by the production of similarly more and larger flowers in 35S::AtERF19 transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) and in transgenic Arabidopsis which ectopically expressed the orchid gene (Nicotiana benthamiana) PaERF19 than in wild‐type plants. The finding that AtERF19 regulates genes involved in both CLV–WUS and auxin signaling during flower development significantly expands the current knowledge of the multifunctional evolution of ERF genes in plants. The results presented in this work indicate a dual role for the transcription factor AtERF19 in controlling the number of flowers produced and flower organ size through the regulation of genes involved in CLV–WUS and auxin signaling, respectively. Our findings expand the knowledge of the roles of ERF genes in the regulation of reproductive development.
Significance Statement
The results presented in this work indicate a dual role for the transcription factor AtERF19 in controlling the number of flowers produced and flower organ size through the regulation of genes involved in CLAVATA–WUSCHEL and auxin signaling, respectively. Our findings expand the knowledge of the roles of ERF genes in the regulation of reproductive development.
Multinational corporations (MNCs) are composed of subsidiaries with different cultures, and such culture differences between headquarters and subsidiaries have been conceptually proposed to ...negatively affect headquarters disseminating green initiatives to their subsidiaries. Despite MNCs vast size and cross-national-border influence on green innovation, very few empirical efforts have been devoted to examine the culture distance challenge. Drawing on Cultural Contingency Theory (CCT) and Natural Resource-Based View (NRBV), this research collected data from 141 senior managers in charge of green initiatives from subsidiaries in 39 countries of an MNC. We empirically investigate how national cultural distance influences subsidiaries’ green supply chain (GSCM) adoption levels, and how headquarters can alleviate such cultural influence. Our results show that, though cultural distance has a negative influence on headquarters-subsidiary green compatibility, we empirically validate that headquarters can overcome this cultural-distance problem by strategically using cultural similarity in response to each distinctive culture embedded in subsidiaries to strengthen a shared vision. Specifically, four cultural characteristics can strengthen the shared vision, including low individualism, low uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and a long-term orientation. MNCs can eventually benefit from the cross-culture cooperation in disseminating GSCM if headquarters can choose a cultural mechanism that best suits local subsidiary.
Different from previous cloud adoption studies that focus on the benefits and concerns of cloud computing from a technology point of view, this study takes a deeper look at two additional ...firm-specific forces that could better explain firms’ cloud adoption trajectory and dilemma:
Path dependency
and
Institutional forces
. Path dependency theory argues that if a firm has invested intensively in traditional IT, it may be more capable of adopting and utilizing new IT since it has accumulated knowledge. However, the firm could also be trapped in its previous path and reluctant to migrate to cloud to avoid sunk costs and switching costs. On the other hand, institutional theory provides an external view and posit that a firm facing more institutional forces from its trading community will have more incentives, as well as pressure, to adopt cloud. We developed a cloud adoption model that features benefits, concerns, path dependency, and institutional forces as prominent antecedents to understand their competing and complementary effects, and empirically tested the proposed model using 177 firms. The results show that, path dependence is indeed an important factor affecting firms’ cloud adoption behaviors; a firm with a better IT position and more satisfying IT outsourcing experiences will have greater cloud adoption intention. Institutional forces do not directly affect cloud adoption intention. Instead, institutional forces increase perceived benefits, through which, indirectly influence cloud adoption intention. The findings delineate the trajectory and dilemma that firms face when migrating to cloud and provide insights to cloud vendors in choosing their target market.
•This study develops a cloud adoption model including adoption level, pricing mechanisms and deployment models.•The research model is examined with 200 Taiwanese firms.•Perceived benefits, business ...concerns, and IT capability are significant determinants, while external pressure is not.•Firms with greater IT capability tend to choose pay-as-you-go pricing mechanism.•The higher the level of business concerns, the more likely it is for the firm to choose the private cloud.
Cloud computing is a new information technology (IT) paradigm that promises to revolutionize traditional IT delivery through reduced costs, greater elasticity, and ubiquitous access. On the surface, adopting cloud computing requires a firm to address many of the same concerns they face in adopting any enterprise IT. However, cloud technologies also offer new pricing and deployment strategies that are unavailable in traditional enterprise solutions. It is unclear how previous research frameworks of enterprise IT adoption relate to these new adoption strategies. To bridge this gap in the literature, our study uses the technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework of innovation diffusion theory to develop a cloud service adoption model that deals with not only adoption intention, but also pricing mechanisms and deployment models. Our research model has been empirically tested using 200 Taiwanese firms. We found that: (1) Cloud adoption is still at its initial stage, since the adoption rates are very low; (2) the perceived benefits, business concerns, and IT capability within the TOE framework are significant determinants of cloud computing adoption, while external pressure is not; (3) firms with greater IT capability tend to choose the pay-as-you-go pricing mechanism; (4) business concern is the most important factor influencing the choice of deployment model, with higher concerns leading to private deployment options.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer‐related death worldwide. As well as the identified role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), its association with driver mutations has improved the ...therapeutics for patients with lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations. These patients usually display shorter overall survival and a higher tendency to develop distant metastasis compared with those carrying the wild‐type EGFR. Nevertheless, the way to control mutated EGFR signaling remains unclear. Here, we performed membrane proteomic analysis to determine potential components that may act with EGFR mutations to promote lung cancer malignancy. Expression of transmembrane glycoprotein non‐metastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB) was positively correlated with the status of mutated EGFR in non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This protein was not only overexpressed but also highly glycosylated in EGFR‐mutated, especially EGFR‐L858R mutated, NSCLC cells. Further examination showed that GPNMB could activate mutated EGFR without ligand stimulation and could bind to the C‐terminus of EGFR, assist phosphorylation at Y845, turn on downstream STAT3 signaling, and promote cancer metastasis. Moreover, we also found that Asn134 (N134) glycosylation of GPNMB played a crucial role in this ligand‐independent regulation. Depleting N134‐glycosylation on GPNMB could dramatically inhibit binding of GPNMB to mutated EGFR, blocking its downstream signaling, and ultimately inhibiting cancer metastasis in NSCLC. Clarifying the role of N‐glycosylated GPNMB in regulating the ligand‐independent activation of mutated EGFR may soon give new insight into the development of novel therapeutics for NSCLC.
In this study, we used membrane proteomic analysis to identify that GPNMB is overexpressed and highly N‐glycosylated in the EGFR mutant, especially the EGFR‐L858R mutated, NSCLC. GPNMB could bind to mutated EGFR without ligand stimulation, activate its downstream signaling and promote cancer metastasis. N134 glycosylation of GPNMB also plays a crucial role in controlling this ligand‐independent regulation.
To what extent should firms invest in personalized recommendation mechanisms, and are all personalized recommendations equally welcomed by online consumers? To answer these questions through the lens ...of resource matching theory, we investigate users' perceptions of three types of personalized recommendations: one-to-all (nonpersonalized), one-to-many (partially personalized), and one-to-one (most personalized). Using both experimental and configurational analysis approaches, our study posits that online consumers differently experience each type of personalized recommendation and their resource matching sources (familiarity, complexity, external information) in various shopping contexts. Our study abductively formulates several theoretical propositions regarding the usefulness of each personalized recommendation. We show empirical evidence that the most personalized recommendation is not always perceived to be as useful as conventionally believed. In particular, highly personalized recommendation is found to be useful for recommending simple technology products for experienced customers. Ironically, a partially personalized recommendation, one-to-many, is perceived as the most useful mechanism for recommending complicated technology products. Based on our findings, we suggest that e-commerce vendors consider the three resource matching dimensions to avoid collecting more than enough customer data, thus enabling adequately personalized recommendation results on their online digital platforms.
Whereas previous studies have devoted great attention to the success of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation, this study aims to investigate how the different qualities of an ERP ...system affect its post-implementation success from the user's perspective. We refined DeLone and McLean's IS success model to examine the relative importance of ERP system quality, information quality, and service quality to post-implementation success, with users’ satisfaction, users’ individual benefits, and a very critical yet seldom investigated variable, users’ extended use of ERP systems, as the outcome variables. Our research model was empirically examined with data from 151 ERP users. We found that service quality, in conjunction with system quality and information quality, significantly affects ERP post-implementation success in terms of user satisfaction. More importantly, service quality was found to significantly interact with information quality and system quality to promote an ERP system's post-implementation success by increasing employees’ extended use.
This study seeks to develop and test a theory-driven model of technology addiction within the context of smartphone use. Drawing on incentive-sensitisation theory, we proposed a nomological network ...that centres on a second-order factor of smartphone addiction from a psychological perspective. We empirically evaluated the proposed model against longitudinal data collected from 441 smartphone users. Our analysis from structural equation modelling indicates that our two-factor measurement of smartphone addiction (heightened desire and mobile social interaction) is a parsimonious alternative to the four-factor model. In addition, our findings suggest that addiction and its negative consequences differ in their effects on subsequent perceptions, such as perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. We also found that personal innovativeness in information technology and a perception of loneliness explain a large amount of variation in smartphone addiction. Overall, the present study significantly contributes to the information systems literature by offering a refined model of smartphone addiction that effectively describes pathological smartphone use while correcting critical biases in existing models.
Summary
The ectopic expression of a MADS box gene FOREVER YOUNG FLOWER (FYF) caused a significant delay of senescence and a deficiency of abscission in flowers of transgenic Arabidopsis. The defect ...in floral abscission was found to be due to a deficiency in the timing of cell separation of the abscission zone cells. Down‐regulation of INFLORESCENCE DEFICIENT IN ABSCISSION (IDA) may contribute to the delay of the floral abscission in 35S:FYF flowers. FYF was found to be highly expressed in young flowers prior to pollination and was significantly decreased after pollination, a pattern that correlated with its function. Ethylene insensitivity in senescence/abscission and the down‐regulation of ETHYLENE RESPONSE DNA‐BINDING FACTOR 1 (EDF1) and EDF2, downstream genes in the ethylene response, in 35S:FYF Arabidopsis suggested a role for FYF in regulating senescence/abscission by suppressing the ethylene response. This role was further supported by the fact that 35S:FYF enhanced the delay of flower senescence/abscission in ethylene response 1 (etr1), ethylene‐insensitive 2 (ein2) and constitutive triple response 1 (ctr1) mutants, which have defects in upstream genes of the ethylene signaling pathway. The presence of a repressor domain in the C‐terminus of FYF and the enhancement of the delay of senescence/abscission in FYF+SRDX (containing a suppression motif) transgenic plants suggested that FYF acts as a repressor. Indeed, in FYF‐DR+VP16 transgenic dominant‐negative mutant plants, in which FYF was converted to a potent activator by fusion to a VP16‐AD motif, the senescence/abscission of the flower organs was significantly promoted, and the expression of BOP2, IDA and EDF1/2 was up‐regulated. Our data suggest a role for FYF in controlling floral senescence/abscission by repressing ethylene responses and regulating the expression of BOP2 and IDA in Arabidopsis.
We investigate the complementary effect between ERP and e-business technologies, and the impact of such effect on business value creation. Previous studies have examined the effects of ERP and ...e-business technologies independently, and show positive effects on business value from their use. However, both the resource based view and microeconomic theory as well as practitioner experience suggest that the impacts from their joint and complementary use should be much greater, but this proposition has not yet been examined empirically. We use two different approaches (product term and direct measure approaches) to measure the complimentary effect. Comparing results using firm performance accounting data with self-reported survey data of 150 U.S. manufacturing firms, we provide confirming empirical evidence that the complementary effect between ERP and e-business technologies in creating business value is stronger than the main effects of ERP or e-business technologies alone. We further find that the complementary use of these IT resources to build system and business integration capabilities can extract the most complementarity value for firms. These findings provide empirical support for the theory of competitive advantage that the resource based view (RBV) proposes. Furthermore, these findings provide practical guidance to firms on how to utilize and deploy ERP and e-business technologies in a mutually reinforcing manner.
•We investigated a complementary effect between ERP and e-business technologies.•We collected 150 U.S. manufacturing firms to test the complementary effect.•Building integration capabilities can extract the most complementarity value.
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