Effects of Carbon-Based Fertilizer on Maize Root Morphology, Root Bleeding Rate and Components in Northeast China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The difference of soil environment directly affects the root growth, distribution, structure and physiological metabolism function, and ultimately affects the growth and development of maize. From the perspective of root system, this study revealed the effect of carbon-based fertilizer on maize root growth and soil environment by studying the changes of rhizosphere microenvironment, root morphological characteristics and physiological characteristics after the treatment of carbon-based fertilizer, and the relationship between the changes and the yield of maize. The results would provide the certain guiding value for the rational application of carbon-based fertilizer to ensure the robust growth of maize root system and improve maize yield. I thought the paper to be overall well written and much of it to be well described. And this manuscript could be published in this journal after minor revisions.

(1)Abstract:

Line14 and 15 “which can improve the physical and chemical properties of soil and optimize the root growth environment” should be deleted.

(2)Keywords: “root morphology distribution” may be changed to “root morphology” for better clarity.

(3)Introduction:

Line 55-57, It is suggested that lines 55-57 should be combined into one sentence, and references 4-6 should be cited.

Line 75, “the carbon base of carbon-based fertilizer” should be changed to “carbon-based fertilizer”.

Also, It is suggested that lines 117-119 “Fertilization is the main measure to improve the soil nutrient environment. The traditional fertilization method not only wastes resources, but also causes serious environmental pollution.” should be deleted for combination.

Line 61-62, Please quote two references in this sentence “There was lots of evidence of the positive regulation……..”

(4) Materials and methods

Please add the weather information of the test site, such as Precision (mm), Temperature (° C), etc.

Please cite one references in 2.2.4 for yield determination.

(5) Results:

“4.5 t” or “4.5t”, The author is requested to revise the language details of punctuation marks and similar errors throughout the article.

Add “Notes”: E.X.--the sentence for better clarity “Notes: Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Different letters within the same column indicate significant difference at the 5% level.” In tables and figures.

(6) Discussion:

This part is well written. Nice.

Delete the sentence “Line 580-583….[44].

(7) References need to be uniformly revised and improved according to the “Agronomy”.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1,

The difference of soil environment directly affects the root growth, distribution, structure and physiological metabolism function, and ultimately affects the growth and development of maize. From the perspective of root system, this study revealed the effect of carbon-based fertilizer on maize root growth and soil environment by studying the changes of rhizosphere microenvironment, root morphological characteristics and physiological characteristics after the treatment of carbon-based fertilizer, and the relationship between the changes and the yield of maize. The results would provide the certain guiding value for the rational application of carbon-based fertilizer to ensure the robust growth of maize root system and improve maize yield. I thought the paper to be overall well written and much of it to be well described. And this manuscript could be published in this journal after minor revisions.

Reply：Thank you very much for your recognition and appreciation of our research topics. Your encouragement is our greatest motivation. In the future, our research team will continue to work hard to explore the mechanism of carbon-based fertilizer on maize, carring out research from the perspective of physiology, ecology and molecular.

(1)Abstract:

Line14 and 15 “which can improve the physical and chemical properties of soil and optimize the root growth environment” should be deleted.

Reply：Thanks for your good suggestions for better clarity. We have deleted this sentence.

(2)Keywords: “root morphology distribution” may be changed to “root morphology” for better clarity.

Reply：Indeed, as you said, this keywords need to be improved.

(3)Introduction:

Line 55-57, It is suggested that lines 55-57 should be combined into one sentence, and references 4-6 should be cited.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestions. This is an important issue. We have modified and improved Line 55-57.

Line 75, “the carbon base of carbon-based fertilizer” should be changed to “carbon-based fertilizer”.

Reply：We apologize for wrong expression in our manuscript. We have made changes to the manuscript. Thank you.

Also, It is suggested that lines 117-119 “Fertilization is the main measure to improve the soil nutrient environment. The traditional fertilization method not only wastes resources, but also causes serious environmental pollution.” should be deleted for combination.

Reply：Thank you for pointing out this important issue. We have revised to make introduction succinct to the point. Best.

Line 61-62, Please quote two references in this sentence “There was lots of evidence of the positive regulation……..”

Reply：We have modified and improved this sentence.

(4) Materials and methods

Please add the weather information of the test site, such as Precision (mm), Temperature (° C), etc.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestions. This is an important issue. We have modified and improved weather information of the test site.

Please cite one references in 2.2.4 for yield determination.

Reply：Because the calculation of maize yield is a relatively conventional calculation method, and in order to save the length of the manuscript, no references are added. Thank you for your suggestion.

(5) Results:

“4.5 t” or “4.5t”, The author is requested to revise the language details of punctuation marks and similar errors throughout the article.

Reply：We apologize for wrong numbering in our manuscript. We have made changes to the manuscript. Thank you.

Add “Notes”: E.X.--the sentence for better clarity “Notes: Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Different letters within the same column indicate significant difference at the 5% level.” In tables and figures.

Reply：Yes, you are right and we have added this notes.

(6) Discussion:

This part is well written. Nice.

Reply：Thanks.

Delete the sentence “Line 580-583….[44].

Reply：Thanks a lot and we have deleted this sentence.

(7) References need to be uniformly revised and improved according to the “Agronomy”.

Reply：Thank you for your important suggestion. We have revised and improved the unit reference of the manuscript.

We are very grateful for you raising above valuable comments for improving manuscript. We have studied your valuable comments carefully and we hope our reply could meet with approval. At the same time, we have revised and improved the language and grammar of the manuscript to meet the requirements of publication. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

Best regards,

 

Xuerui Wang, Jian Li, Xiaofei Yang, Bin Wang, Wanrong Gu, Yubo Wang

3 March，2023

Reviewer 2 Report

Using the carbon based fertilizer is one of important way to improve crop growth and increase yield.

(1) As a field experiment, the results should be reported  at least 2 years.  The decomposition of biochar is slow, continuous addition of biochar will have different results.

(2) Should describle more clearer logic to explain why the research was carried out in the last paragraphy of Introdution.

(3) Corn root growth is closely related to soil physical and chemical propertie， so the soil nutrients data should be added in the experiments 

(4) It is recommended to add graphics of field experiments, including some photos will be better.

(5)  The main physical and chemical properties of biochar should be listed，such as pH.

(6) The climate data near the field and the planting density of corn should be listed.

(7) The reference of determination of root dry matter should be listed.

(8) The result description is too complex and should be refined。

(9) Need to think about how to focus on the main issue of the experiments. Fertilization affects the crop root system,  and finally affect crop yield. The possible causes of this result should be the core point.

 

 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

Thank you for helpful and valuable comments revising manuscript. We have studied comments carefully and revised portion are marked in red in the manuscript.

Using the carbon based fertilizer is one of important way to improve crop growth and increase yield.

Reply：Thank you very much for your recognition and appreciation of our research topics. Your encouragement is our greatest motivation.

(1) As a field experiment, the results should be reported  at least 2 years.  The decomposition of biochar is slow, continuous addition of biochar will have different results.

Reply：Indeed, as you said, thank you for pointing out this important question. The results of many years of experiments are more convincing. Our scientific research team answers your question from three aspects. First of all, we took this problem into consideration at the beginning of the experiment design. We had done the preliminary experiment in 2018 and got good results. So we repeated it for another year in 2019, and the results were also good. Finally, we only used the 2019 experimental data when writing. Secondly, due to the impact of the COVID-19, our originally designed experiment of investing carbon based fertilizer for many years was affected in 2020 and 2021. Thirdly, since 2022, we have begun to design experiments at multiple points for many years to explore the response mechanism of maize roots after applying carbon-based fertilizer into the soil, and to explore the soil microbiology and physiological molecular mechanism. In the future, we will adopt your suggestions, conduct multi-point data processing and carry out experiments in the field for many years, and expect to get good results.

(2) Should describle more clearer logic to explain why the research was carried out in the last paragraphy of Introdution.

Reply：According to your suggestion, we have adjusted the order of the contents of the introdution. Thank you.

(3) Corn root growth is closely related to soil physical and chemical propertie， so the soil nutrients data should be added in the experiments 

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We have explained it in 2.1 and 2.2. We readjusted the content to highlight the physical and chemical properties of soil.

(4) It is recommended to add graphics of field experiments, including some photos will be better.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We failed to take aerial photos of the plot settings of the experimental field, so as to better present the growth phenotype of corn. In the future, we will take your suggestions and take aerial photos of unmanned aerial vehicles during the growing period of corn, keep the photos and apply them to the manuscript writing.

(5)  The main physical and chemical properties of biochar should be listed，such as pH.

Reply：Thank you. We have revised and improved the contents of 2.1 and 2.2.

(6) The climate data near the field and the planting density of corn should be listed.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We have revised and improved the contents of the materials and methods to better express them.

(7) The reference of determination of root dry matter should be listed.

Reply：Thanks and we have added a citation to make the MS clearer.

(8) The result description is too complex and should be refined.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We have compressed and modified the results to present them in a more refined way.

(9) Need to think about how to focus on the main issue of the experiments. Fertilization affects the crop root system,  and finally affect crop yield. The possible causes of this result should be the core point.

Reply：As you said, this is indeed a very important issue. We have revised and improved the obtained results in the discussion part, especially how to affect the growth and development of root system, and found out the key limiting factors, and finally how to affect the yield of maize. Thanks a lot for your helpful suggestions.

We are very grateful for you raising above valuable comments for improving manuscript. We have studied your valuable comments carefully and we hope our reply could meet with approval. At the same time, we have revised and improved the language and grammar of the manuscript to meet the requirements of publication. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

Best regards,

 

Xuerui Wang, Jian Li, Xiaofei Yang, Bin Wang, Wanrong Gu, Yubo Wang

3 March，2023

Reviewer 3 Report

In this study, the authors have provided important information on the carbon-based fertilizer on maize root morphology, root bleeding rate and components, which would help enhance the audience's knowledge and minimize the study gaps regarding carbon-based fertilizer. This way, we can minimize the utilization of chemical fertilizers through application of bio-char and protect the agricultural land and enhance the soil nutrients. The manuscript is organized and informative. However, it can be further improved; I have provided a few corrections below. The manuscript requires some minor revisions then accept it.

1.      Line 17: add the word six treatments were set “as follows”

2.      Line 40: add the word “In conclusion”

3.      Line 47: term should be “consumer” instead of user.

4.      From line 47 to 50: This is your own research, if not please mentioned the references.

5.      From line 88 to 92: Where is the reference. Please attach the possible reference.

6.      Overall, introduction is lacking of references, author needs to add the valuable and latest references.

7.      On what basis these tested varieties were selected. Any possible reason, please describe shortly in the M&M section.

8.      Results are quite fine

 

9.      From start of the discussion, author needs to describe the results from the start and then justify the results with latest references. 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 3,

Thank you for helpful and valuable comments revising manuscript. We have studied comments carefully and revised portion are marked in red in the manuscript.

In this study, the authors have provided important information on the carbon-based fertilizer on maize root morphology, root bleeding rate and components, which would help enhance the audience's knowledge and minimize the study gaps regarding carbon-based fertilizer. This way, we can minimize the utilization of chemical fertilizers through application of bio-char and protect the agricultural land and enhance the soil nutrients. The manuscript is organized and informative. However, it can be further improved; I have provided a few corrections below. The manuscript requires some minor revisions then accept it.

Reply：Thank you very much for your recognition and appreciation of our research topics. Your encouragement is our greatest motivation.

1. Line 17: add the word six treatments were set “as follows”

Reply：Yes, you are right and we have added these words for better clarity.

2. Line 40: add the word “In conclusion”

Reply：Thanks a lot. Indeed, as you said, this word need to be improved.

3. Line 47: term should be “consumer” instead of user.

Reply：Thanks and we have revised them in the manuscript.

4. From line 47 to 50: This is your own research, if not please mentioned the references.

Reply：Yes, you are right. We have rearranged the references in the introduction.

5. From line 88 to 92: Where is the reference. Please attach the possible reference.

Reply：Thank you very much for your careful revision. We have added the references.

6. Overall, introduction is lacking of references, author needs to add the valuable and latest references.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestions. This is an important issue. We have modified and improved the manuscript. We rewrote and refined the introduction, and cited some of the latest and most relevant references.

7. On what basis these tested varieties were selected. Any possible reason, please describe shortly in the M&M section.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. This is a very important question. We have supplemented relevant description in materials and methods, especially the basis for tested varieties selection.

8. Results are quite fine

 Reply：Thanks a lot. Best.

9. From start of the discussion, author needs to describe the results from the start and then justify the results with latest references. 

Reply：Based on your helpful and careful suggestions，we have revised and improved the sentences in the manuscript to present them in a clearer way, especially justifing the results with latest references. Best.

 

We are very grateful for you raising above valuable comments for improving manuscript. We have studied your valuable comments carefully and we hope our reply could meet with approval. At the same time, we have revised and improved the language and grammar of the manuscript to meet the requirements of publication. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

Best regards,

Xuerui Wang, Jian Li, Xiaofei Yang, Bin Wang, Wanrong Gu, Yubo Wang

3 March，2023

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Frankly, I'm not very satisfied with the revised manuscript。

(1) As a field experiment, the results should be reported  at least 2 years.  The decomposition of biochar is slow, continuous addition of biochar will have different results.

Reply：Indeed, as you said, thank you for pointing out this important question. The results of many years of experiments are more convincing. Our scientific research team answers your question from three aspects. First of all, we took this problem into consideration at the beginning of the experiment design. We had done the preliminary experiment in 2018 and got good results. So we repeated it for another year in 2019, and the results were also good. Finally, we only used the 2019 experimental data when writing. Secondly, due to the impact of the COVID-19, our originally designed experiment of investing carbon based fertilizer for many years was affected in 2020 and 2021. Thirdly, since 2022, we have begun to design experiments at multiple points for many years to explore the response mechanism of maize roots after applying carbon-based fertilizer into the soil, and to explore the soil microbiology and physiological molecular mechanism. In the future, we will adopt your suggestions, conduct multi-point data processing and carry out experiments in the field for many years, and expect to get good results.

Anyway, at least, you should describle the experiment started in 2018 in the revised manuscript. I didnot find it in the newest version.

(2) Should describle more clearer logic to explain why the research was carried out in the last paragraphy of Introdution.

Reply：According to your suggestion, we have adjusted the order of the contents of the introdution. Thank you.

There are few modify in the Introduction.

(3) It is recommended to add graphics of field experiments, including some photos will be better.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We failed to take aerial photos of the plot settings of the experimental field, so as to better present the growth phenotype of corn. In the future, we will take your suggestions and take aerial photos of unmanned aerial vehicles during the growing period of corn, keep the photos and apply them to the manuscript writing.

Actually, graphics of field experiments not mean photos, you could draw one with OFFICE or other software.

(6) The climate data near the field and the planting density of corn should be listed.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We have revised and improved the contents of the materials and methods to better express them.

The climate date need the  each month during the year, such as  mobthly rainfall and mean temperature. Planting density should including the spacing of corn rows and each plant.

(7) The reference of determination of root dry matter should be listed.

Reply：Thanks and we have added a citation to make the MS clearer.

I didn't find the method of Amino Acids Transport Rate in 2.2 Data collection.

As the reply of comments, i suggest the authors to describle the details of the revised， to make it easy for reviewers to see your changes.

 

 

 

Author Response

Frankly, I'm not very satisfied with the revised manuscript.

(1) As a field experiment, the results should be reported  at least 2 years.  The decomposition of biochar is slow, continuous addition of biochar will have different results.

Reply：Indeed, as you said, thank you for pointing out this important question. The results of many years of experiments are more convincing. Our scientific research team answers your question from three aspects. First of all, we took this problem into consideration at the beginning of the experiment design. We had done the preliminary experiment in 2018 and got good results. So we repeated it for another year in 2019, and the results were also good. Finally, we only used the 2019 experimental data when writing. Secondly, due to the impact of the COVID-19, our originally designed experiment of investing carbon based fertilizer for many years was affected in 2020 and 2021. Thirdly, since 2022, we have begun to design experiments at multiple points for many years to explore the response mechanism of maize roots after applying carbon-based fertilizer into the soil, and to explore the soil microbiology and physiological molecular mechanism. In the future, we will adopt your suggestions, conduct multi-point data processing and carry out experiments in the field for many years, and expect to get good results.

Anyway, at least, you should describle the experiment started in 2018 in the revised manuscript. I didnot find it in the newest version.

 

2^nd-Reply：We are very sorry that you are not satisfied with our reply due to our lack of careful revision of the manuscript. We would like to extend our sincere apologies. The problem you pointed out is very correct. We fully agree with you. We added a sentence to the manuscript,“We started the preliminary experiment in 2018, and achieved good experimental results. In 2019, we modified and improved the plan based on 2018, and achieved good application results of carbon-based fertilizer, and achieved good application data.”We don't know whether the above answers can satisfy you. We look forward to your further guidance.

 

(2) Should describle more clearer logic to explain why the research was carried out in the last paragraphy of Introdution.

Reply：According to your suggestion, we have adjusted the order of the contents of the introduction. Thank you.

There are few modify in the Introduction.

 

2^nd-Reply：Thank you for your suggestions. We readjusted the order and adjusted the contents you mentioned to the beginning of the introduction.

 

(3) It is recommended to add graphics of field experiments, including some photos will be better.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We failed to take aerial photos of the plot settings of the experimental field, so as to better present the growth phenotype of corn. In the future, we will take your suggestions and take aerial photos of unmanned aerial vehicles during the growing period of corn, keep the photos and apply them to the manuscript writing.

Actually, graphics of field experiments not mean photos, you could draw one with OFFICE or other software.

 

2^nd-Reply：Thank you for your suggestions. Because of the single factor in the experimental design, we have described it in words. In the next experiment, we will listen to your suggestions, and all the experimental areas and processing will be displayed with graphic diagrams. We look forward to your further guidance.

 

(6) The climate data near the field and the planting density of corn should be listed.

Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. We have revised and improved the contents of the materials and methods to better express them.

The climate date need the  each month during the year, such as  mobthly rainfall and mean temperature. Planting density should including the spacing of corn rows and each plant.

 

2^nd-Reply：Thank you for your suggestion. Firstly, due to the uncertainty of the weather in the field experiment, we very much agree with your statement and suggestions. However, according to previous research documents, there are two types of methods to introduce meteorological factors during corn planting. One is to introduce temperature, light and water every month, and the other is to simply describe the weather conditions, and to use words to describe the average temperature, precision and sunshine hours and other parameters. Secondly, we have described planting density in the manuscript. The planting density is 82500 plants per hectare, the plot has 8 ridges, the width of the ridge is 0.65 m, the length of the ridge is 7 m, and the area is about 36.4 m². Each treatment is repeated 3 times, and arranged randomly. We don't know whether the above reply can satisfy you, and we look forward to your further guidance.

 

(7) The reference of determination of root dry matter should be listed.

Reply：Thanks and we have added a citation to make the MS clearer.

I didn't find the method of Amino Acids Transport Rate in 2.2 Data collection.
As the reply of comments, i suggest the authors to describle the details of the revised， to make it easy for reviewers to see your changes.

 

 2^nd-Reply：Thank you for your careful revision. Indeed, as you said, since this is a very common and simple calculation method, we have not cited references to explain it. We are very sorry that we followed the principle of simplicity in the revision of the manuscript, so the length of the manuscript is not large. Thank you for the above comments, which is of great help to improve the quality of the manuscript. We look forward to receiving your further guidance. Thank you very much for your time and efforts. Best wishes.