Transcriptomics Combined with Photosynthetic Physiology and Leaf Structure Analysis Revealed Increased Sugarcane Yield by Fenlong-Ridging

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript entitled "Transcriptomics Combined with Photosynthetic Physiology and Leaf Structure Analysis Revealed Increased Sugarcane Yield by Fenlong-Ridging" is dealing with application of fenlong-ridging technology aiming to improve sugarcane yield by integrating physiology, cytology, and proteomics analysis.

The use of fenlong-ridging (FL) is a new and promising technology leading to improved plant production in many crops. However, the cytology and molecular mechanisms of crops under FL is not completely understood. Therefore, this paper provides insights into plant production, photosynthetic performances and photosynthesis related enzymes including transcriptomic analyses.

The authors gave a new information about FL application on sugarcane morpho-physiological properties with the focus on photosynthetic performances of plants. Additionally, they provide information about FL effect on agronomic characteristics of soil in two growing conditions, including new planted cane vs stubble cane.

The authors used appropriate methodology.

In general conclusions are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented in the manuscript.

Lines 14-15 paraphrase the sentence or cite Duan et al. 2022 Fenlong-Ridging Promotes Microbial Activity in Sugarcane: A Soil and Root Metabarcoding Survey

Line 58-59 Add citation

Table 1. Please provide a citation for each parameter you measured.

Figure 2. Provide an information what is presented on figure; e.g. Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation. The same for Fig. 3.

Lines 267-268 The sentence should be part of the discussion section

Lines 319-322 This paragraph is already mentioned. Please remove.

Line 478 "improve" replace with "improvement"

Lines 545-548 Paraphrase the sentence. The mentioned conclusion is not adequate because it does not provide sufficient evidence to support the argument since the authors didn’t analyze roots performances.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript “Transcriptomics Combined with Photosynthetic Physiology  and Leaf Structure Analysis Revealed Increased Sugarcane  Yield by Fenlong-Ridging” of Zhu S. et al.

The topic of the article is relevant. The article contains new interesting information. Using physiological, cytological and proteomic analyzes, the role of Fenlong-Ridging in increasing the yield of sugarcane was shown.

Questions and remarks:

1.                       Line 73-74, 494-495. “Crop yield and quality are the result of the interaction between agricultural  measures, environment and genes”.  Incorrect sentence in the text. In a plant organism, there is a constant change in the expression of various genes, including those not related to the сrop yield and quality.

2.                       Line 85-88. “Fenlong-ridging may increase the capacity of  nitrogen absorption and assimilation in sugarcane roots by up-regulating the expression  levels of nitrogen absorption and assimilation-related genes, thereby promoting root  growth.” Fenlong-ridging does not directly affect the level of gene expression. During Fenlong-ridging , environmental conditions change, which affects the physiological and biochemical processes in plants. This entails a change in the level of expression of some genes.

3.                       It is necessary to formulate the purpose of the work more clearly: a) The authors studied the effect of Fenlong-ridging on the physic-chemical properties of the soil; b) to investigate the influence of the Fenlong-ridging on the expression of genes associated with photosynthesis.

4.                       Line 260-261. “Fenlong-ridging had an active influence on soil physiological and chemical properties”, but the authors studied the physical and chemical properties of soils.

5.                        Statistical analysis: Were the data obtained checked for normal distribution? What criterion was used to determine statistically significant differences?

English language is fine

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf