Nodulation and Growth Promotion of Chickpea by Mesorhizobium Isolates from Diverse Sources
, Stephanus N. Venter 1, Chrizelle W. Beukes 1,2, Emma T. Steenkamp 1, Eastonce T. Gwata 3 and Esther K. Muema 1,*Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript entitled “Nodulation and growth promotion of chickpea by Mesorhizobium isolates from diverse sources” evaluated the symbiotic effectiveness of 21 Mesorhizobium strains and 6 chickpea genotypes and found strong effects of rhizobia strains on plant physiology. Rhizobia strains with high efficiency and plant genotype with high performance were also identified.
Main concern:
The study was mainly focused on the effects of rhizobia on plant performance, how the host plants affect these strains was not investigated or discussed. Plant-microbe interaction was not a topic of the study, the authors need to justify how the manuscript fit the scope of the special issue Plant Microbe “Interactions”.
IAA production and phosphate solubilization capacity were assessed in the study, these valuable traits could strongly influence plant growth. Stronger conclusions could be drawn if these results are linked to the plant physiology parameters.
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript entitled “Nodulation and growth promotion of chickpea by Mesorhizobium isolates from diverse sources” presents the results of a study of interactions between 6 chickpea genotypes and 21 nodule bacteria strains. The design of the study is appropriate, the materials and methods used in the work are adequately described, and the results are clearly presented, so the manuscript can be published in the Microbiology journal after minor revisions.
1. Please provide full Latin name of all plant species (Cicer arietinum L., ) when you mention them first time.
2. The introduction is quite long and contains many details that are not relevant to the presentation (for example, the enumeration of genera that belong to rhizobia). On the other hand, the explanation of what ‘desi’ chickpeas are may be helpful for readers not familiar with this species.
3. Line 107: ‘valuable’ would be better than ‘invaluable’ in this context.
4. Line 123: ‘making use of use blastN’ – please delete the second ‘use’.
5. Materials and methods: please provide the information about the volume of pots, and about the amount of potassium nitrate supplied to positive control (volume and concentration).
6. Table 2 – please provide the p-value for genotype x strain interaction (instead of just ‘not significant’).
7. Did you count the nodules? The number of nodules and the weight of individual nodule are useful characteristics of nodulation, since plants of one genotype can form low number of big nodules, and plants of another genotype can form many small nodules, when the total nodule weight remains the same.
8. Line 418: might be present in the soil.
9. If you state that this is the first study to report the isolation of strains from the field, please provide the details for this isolation (i.e., the location of the field, the medium used for cultivation of the isolated bacteria etc.).
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
