Enhanced Post-Drought Compensatory Growth and Water Utilization in Maize via Rhizosphere Soil Nitrification by Heterotrophic Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript need a few minor corrections before acceptance:

(1) The sub-headings in the Results and Discussion part are very loosely written often in a single word. The title of the sub-headings needs to be modified in a way that it itself conveys the meaning.

(2) Scientific names to be italicized in the manuscript.

Author Response

Dear Sir or Madam:

Now we have revised my manuscript (ID:water-2682636) “Enhanced post-drought compensatory growth and water utilization in maize via rhizosphere soil nitrification by heterotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria” thoroughly according to the comments and suggestions by the Editor and the reviewer.

The responding to the Editor and the reviewer is as follows. 

 

Reviewer: 1

Comment 1

The sub-headings in the Results and Discussion part are very loosely written often in a single word. The title of the sub-headings needs to be modified in a way that it itself conveys the meaning. 

Response

Thank you very much for this nice suggestion. Following your suggestion, the sub-headings in the Results and Discussion sections have been revised. (Page 6, Line 228; Page 7, Line 267; Page 8, Line 292, Line 318; Page 9, Line 348; Page 11, Line 445) 

Comment 2

Scientific names to be italicized in the manuscript. 

Response

Thank you very much for your comments. Following your suggestion, scientific names have been revised. (page 1, line 35; page 2, lines 63-65; page 3,  line 98)

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This article presents an interesting study that uses heterotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria to regulate maize water use efficiency and provides a preliminary explanation of the mechanism.

However, there are some issues that need to be addressed:

(1) The abbreviations used for the treatment groups in the article make it difficult to read, and it is not clear what principles were used for the abbreviations;

(2) How does the experiment eliminate the impact of autotrophic nitrification on the measurement of nitrification rate?

(3) How were the primers for quantitative PCR designed, and is their representativeness not clearly stated?

(4) The current discussion section seems to be an extension of the results section, lacking effective discussions on the results obtained; why the observed effects occurred is not discussed clearly.

(5) The introduction section does not clearly explain why HAOB was used for regulation.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The overall language of the article is generally acceptable, but many abbreviations are confusing and unclear.

Author Response

Dear Sir or Madam:

Now we have revised my manuscript (ID:water-2682636) “Enhanced post-drought compensatory growth and water utilization in maize via rhizosphere soil nitrification by heterotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria” thoroughly according to the comments and suggestions by the Editor and the reviewer.

The responding to the Editor and the reviewer is as follows. 

 

Reviewer: 2

Comment 1

The abbreviations used for the treatment groups in the article make it difficult to read, and it is not clear what principles were used for the abbreviations.

Response

Thank you very much for this query. Following your suggestion, now the abbreviations used for the treatment groups are explained.

The experiment included various treatments: Control with sufficient water supply (CK),where “CK” stands for “Control”.

Sufficient water supply with HAOB strain inoculation (WI),where “W” stands for “Keep it wet with sufficient water supply ”; “I” stands for “Inoculation of HAOB strain”.

Limited rewatering after drought (DL), where “D” stands for “Dry”; “L” stands for “Limit.

Sufficient rewatering after drought (DH),where “D” stands for “Dry; “H” stands for “High quantities of water supply after drought”.

Sufficient rewatering after drought with HAOB strain inoculation (DHI),where “D” stands for “Dry”; “H” stands for “High quantities of water supply after drought”, and “I” stands for “Inoculation of HAOB strain”.

Limited rewatering after drought with HAOB strain inoculation (DLI), where “D” stands for “Dry”; “L” stands for “Limit”, and “I” stands for “Inoculation of HAOB strain”. (Page 1, Line 18-20; Page 3, Line 117-121) 

Comment 2 

How does the experiment eliminate the impact of autotrophic nitrification on the measurement of nitrification rate? 

Response

Thank you very much for this query. “S2_8_1” is a heterotrophic bacterium with both autotrophic characteristics. As we have previously reported in 《Increasing Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) regrowth via inoculation with an ammonia‐oxidizing bacterial strain[J]》 of Grassland Science. Volume 69, Issue 1. 2022. PP 51-64. Therefore, the impact of autotrophic nitrification on nitrification rate measurement can be ignored.

Comment 3 

How were the primers for quantitative PCR designed, and is their representativeness not clearly stated? 

Response

Thank you very much for this query. Following your suggestion, “The PCR amplification targeting the S2_8_1 gene utilized specific primers: F (5′-ATGTACTGCGCTCAAATCCGA-3′), R (5′-ATGATGAAGGCAAAACCACGAT-3′), and probe P (5′-FAM-ACAACGCAGAAGTCGCACGGAAG-BHQ1-3′).” have been added in the “Materials and methods”. (Page 3, Line 199-201)

Comment 4

The current discussion section seems to be an extension of the results section, lacking effective discussions on the results obtained; why the observed effects occurred is not discussed clearly. 

Response 

Thank you very much for this query. The discussion section has been revised.

Section 4.1 has been enhanced with a discussion on soil moisture, elevating the understanding of crop utilization of soil water. (Page 11, Line 405-412)

Section 4.2 has been enhanced with a discussion on the impact of introducing HAOB strains on compensatory growth of maize under water-deficient conditions. (Page 11, Line 419-424)

Section 4.3 has been enhanced with a discussion on the impact of soil bacteria on crop growth. (Page 12, Line 460-463; Page 12, Line 468-470) 

Comment 5

The introduction section does not clearly explain why HAOB was used for regulation. 

Response

Thank you very much for this query. We have added an explanation in the introduction why HAOB was used. (Page 2, Line 66-78)

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have revised the MS well and now ready for publication.