Diversity of Cellular Slime Molds (Dictyostelids) in the Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve and Geographical Distribution Comparisons with Other Representative Nature Reserves in Different Climate Zones of China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The research is well within the scope of the Microorganisms Journal. The literature review justifies the research well and introduces the reader to the topics presented in the manuscript.

The "Introduction" chapter introduces the reader well to the topics described in the manuscript.

The "Materials and Methods" chapter - the authors correctly describe the research methods used in their research. They document their field of research well.

The "Results" chapter - the authors describe the results obtained correctly and sufficiently. The results are well illustrated with graphs and photographs.

"Discussion" chapter - the authors have related their research findings to other studies. This chapter is well written.

The "References" chapter - does not raise any objections. The authors have used all the necessary literature.

 In general, the whole manuscript is correctly written. The only suggestion is to add a "Conclusion" chapter in which they summarise the main findings of their research and write what the strengths and weaknesses of the research are.

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Dear reviewer:

Thank you for your comments relating to our manuscript [entitled “Diversity of cellular slime molds (dictyostelids) in the Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve and geographical distribution comparisons with other representative nature reserves in different climate zones of China”] (ID: microorganisms-2994770). The comments were very valuable in addition to being helpful in our efforts to revise and improve our manuscript as well as bringing out the important significant points of our research. We have read the comments carefully and made corrections accordingly. Revised parts are marked in blue in the manuscript. The main corrections in the paper and our responses to the comments are given below. We hope that the revisions in the manuscript and our accompanying responses will be sufficient to make our manuscript suitable for publication in Microorganisms.

 

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The research is well within the scope of the Microorganisms Journal. The literature review justifies the research well and introduces the reader to the topics presented in the manuscript.

The “Introduction” chapter introduces the reader well to the topics described in the manuscript.

The “Materials and Methods” chapter - the authors correctly describe the research methods used in their research. They document their field of research well.

The “Results” chapter - the authors describe the results obtained correctly and sufficiently. The results are well illustrated with graphs and photographs.

“Discussion” chapter - the authors have related their research findings to other studies. This chapter is well written.

The “References” chapter - does not raise any objections. The authors have used all the necessary literature.

In general, the whole manuscript is correctly written. The only suggestion is to add a “Conclusion” chapter in which they summarise the main findings of their research and write what the strengths and weaknesses of the research are.

 

Response: The suggestion you’ve mentioned is very meaningful.

We have added the “Conclusion” chapter in the manuscript which summarizes the main findings of research and the strengths and weaknesses of the research.

Modify as follows：

5. Conclusion

In this study, 34 isolates representing four species of dictyostelids were obtained from soil samples collected from Fanjing Mountain of Guizhou Province, China. One species (Polysphondylium fuscans) was new to China, which provides a new starting point for the study of this species. Our data indicate that the distribution patterns of dictyostelids are most influenced by vegetation and temperature, which provides important information for understanding the ecological characteristics of these organisms. These obvious geographical distribution patterns of dictyostelids in different climate zones has great significance for developing a better understanding of their ecological adaptability and evolutionary history.

However, in future studies, we should (1) consider the limitations of the research area, such as increasing the collection of samples and adopting new technologies such as high-throughput sequencing; (2) consider the complexity of environmental factors, such as soil conditions and the influence of biological factors; and (3) propose specific protection measures or recommendations to help protect these precious biological resources.

 

We tried our best to improve the manuscript and made some changes marked in blue in revised paper. These will not influence the content and framework of the paper. We appreciate the careful editing by the Editor/Reviewers and earnestly hope the revision will meet with your approval. Once again, thank you very much for your comments and suggestions.

 

Kind regards,

Pu Liu

E-mail address: [email protected]

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

All in the MS

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Response to Reviewer 2 Comments

Dear reviewer:

Thank you for your comments relating to our manuscript [entitled “Diversity of cellular slime molds (dictyostelids) in the Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve and geographical distribution comparisons with other representative nature reserves in different climate zones of China”] (ID: microorganisms-2994770). The comments were very valuable in addition to being helpful in our efforts to revise and improve our manuscript as well as bringing out the important significant points of our research. We have read the comments carefully and made corrections accordingly. Revised parts are marked in blue in the manuscript. The main corrections in the paper and our responses to the comments are given below. We hope that the revisions in the manuscript and our accompanying responses will be sufficient to make our manuscript suitable for publication in Microorganisms.

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

1. Line 16 – “important ecological functions” which are they?

Response: We have added the specific ecological functions.

Modify as follows：

Dictyostelids are unique protists known to have important ecological functions in promoting soil and plant health through their top-down regulation of ecosystem processes, such as decomposition, that involve bacterial populations.

 

2. Line 21 – “sampled sites in other protected” how many areas are compared?

Response: We compared the data obtained from Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve with the other four protected areas.

Modify as follows：

We compared the biodiversity data of dictyostelids in Fanjing Mountain with similar data from previously sampled sites in four other protected areas including Changbai Mountain (CB), Gushan Mountain (GS), Baiyun Mountain (BY) and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QT) in China.

 

3. Line 29 – “similarity coefficients” which coefficients?

Response: This refers to Jaccard similarity coefficient, also known as Jaccard index, which is used to compare the similarity and difference between finite sample sets. The higher the value of the Jaccard coefficient, the higher the similarity of the samples being compared.

Modify as follows：

and the Jaccard similarity coefficient (Jaccard index) of family, genus and species

 

4. Line 33 – “Keywords” order in alphabetic way

Response: We have arranged the keywords in alphabetical order.

Modify as follows：

Keywords: Dictyostelids diversity; Geographical distribution; Protected areas; Soil protists; Taxonomy.

 

5. Lines 36-43 – add this in the Abstract?

Response: We have deleted this paragraph.

 

6. Line 79 – “ macrocephalum” complete

Response: For a variety of species with the same genus name, one should write the genus name of the first species and abbreviate the genus name thereafter.

Modify as follows：

have yielded only nine species (Dictyostelium macrocephalum, D. implicatum, D. crassicaul, D. firmibasis, D. purpureum, Heterostelium tenuissimum, H. pallidum, Polysphondylium violaceum, and Cavenderia delicata) from Guizhou Province [26,27]

 

7. Line 117 – “Table 1”in the Table some words are in bold?

Response: We have carefully corrected the fonts in the table to be consistent.

Modify as follows：

Soil Nos.	Quadrats	Plots	Vegetation	Coordinates	Elevation (m)	Temperature	Air humidity	pH	Dictyostelid species
6972	A1	P1	Coniferous forest	27°54′29″N, 108°41′59″E	1971	24~37℃	0.49	4.32	——
6973	A2			27°54′31″N, 108°41′57″E	1978	24~37℃	0.39	5.7	**Polysphondylium fuscans (1)
6974	A3			27°54′37″N, 108°41′53″E	2049	24~37℃	0.39	5.85	——
6975	B1	P2	Broadleaf forest	27°50′32″N, 108°46′30″E	503	24~37℃	0.63	4.96	——
6976	B2			27°50′33″N, 108°46′28″E	519	24~37℃	0.6	5.68	——
6977	B3			27°50′32″N, 108°46′31″E	656	24~37℃	0.63	5.65	*Dictyostelium  robusticaule (2)
6978	C1	P3	Mixed forest	27°50′40″N, 108°47′10″E	830	24~37℃	0.6	4.55	——
6979	C2			27°50′39″N, 108°47′13″E	842	24~37℃	0.65	5.61	D. purpureum (1), Heterostelium  pallidum (1)
6980	C3			27°50′41″N, 108°47′11″E	818	24~37℃	0.62	5.83	Heterostelium  pallidum (29)

 

8. Line 135 – The formulae [29,31] used to, not join

Response: We have added the corresponding reference under each formula, which will enable readers to find the original source more quickly and thus enhance the readability of the article.

Modify as follows：

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. What is S_j, j=XXX?

Response: S_J is the Jaccard similarity coefficient, j= Jaccard

Modify as follows：

Jaccard similarity coefficient (S_J) (%) [32]

 

 

10. Line 207 – “Jaccard similarity coefficient” include this name in the abstract?

 

Response: We have added the “Jaccard similarity coefficient” to the abstract.

Modify as follows：

and the Jaccard similarity coefficient (Jaccard index) of family, genus and species

 

11. Line 244 – “Table 2” add complete scientific name

 

Response: We have added the complete scientific name in each instance.

Modify as follows：

Species	Polysphondylium fuscans Perrigo & Romeralo (Fig. 5)	Dictyostelium robusticaule Y. Li, P. Liu, Y. Zou (Fig. 6)	Dictyostelium purpureum Olive  (Fig. 7)	Heterostelium pallidum (Olive) S. Baldauf, S. Sheikh & Thulin (Fig. 8)
Characteristic description	Solitary, irregular (1–3) whorls	Solitary or gregarious, erect or semi-erect, branches or rarely with one branch	Solitary, strongly phototropic	Gregarious, phototropic, irregular whorls of branches, semierect or prostrate
Sori	Dark purple coloration	White	Dark vinaceous purple to almost black	White
Aggregations	Radiate	Radiate	Radiate	Initially mound-like, later radiate
Pseudoplasmodia	Migrate with stalk	Not migrating	Migrate with stalk	Producing clustered sorogens
Sorophore tips	Clavate, two tiers of cells	obtuse, collar structure, several tiers of cells	Capitate, one or two tier of cells	Acuminate, one tier of cells
Sorophore bases	Round to conical, several tiers of cells	Clavate, several tiers of cells	Robust, basal support disk	Clavate, two or several tiers of cells
Spores	Elliptical, inconspicuous polar granules	Oblong or elliptical, without polar granules	Elliptical, without polar granules	Elliptical, inconspicuous polar granules
Sori diameter (mm)	0.099–0.157	0.140–0.268	0.147–0.628	0.038–0.140
Sorocarps (mm）	2.785–5.473	0.628–2.316	4.101–6.192	2.401–3.047
Aggregations size (mm）	1.918–4.015×1.794–3.317	5.008–5.731×5.683–6.773	3.094–9.461×3.135–10.219	3.244–4.562×4.276–5.821
Sorophore （μm）	13.333–31.037	12.345–40.136	27.321–38.701	9.245–15.515
Spores（μm）	3.178–3.755×1.316–1.897	6.109–7.754×3.414–4.162	5.121–9.081×2.330–4.324	6.095–7.041×3.269–4.171
Sorophore tips（μm）	5.436–6.101	10.443–37.365	4.291–19.829	3.818–4.693
Sorophore bases（μm）	7.085–16.743	8.316–19.382	36.464–49.140	16.614–22.085
Strain No.	HMJAU A241	HMJAU B341, B321	HMJAU C211	HMJAU C231; C311-C315; C321- C324; C331-C336; C341-C347; C351-C357
Soil Nos.	6973	6977	6979	6979, 6980
Collection site	Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve (A2)	Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve (B3)	Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve (C2)	Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve (C2), Fanjing Mountain Nature Reserve (C3)
Vegetation	Coniferous forest	Broadleaf forest	Mixed forest	Mixed forest
Distribution in China	Guizhou	Jilin, Guizhou	Beijing, Taiwan, Fujian, Henan, Guizhou	Taiwan, Jilin, Guizhou
World distribution	Sweden, China	China	India, Nepal, Japan, China	Japan, Liberia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Tanzania, United States, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, China,

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Line 246 – “ fuscans” scientific name complete

 

Response: We have added the complete scientific name.

Modify as follows：

Morphological features of Polysphondylium fuscans Perrigo & Romeralo

 

 

13. Line 246 – “ robusticaule” scientific name complete

 

Response: We have added the complete scientific name.

Modify as follows：

Morphological features of Dictyostelium robusticaule Y. Li, P. Liu, Y. Zou

 

14. Line 246 – “ purpureum” scientific name complete

 

Response: We have added the complete scientific name.

Modify as follows：

Morphological features of Dictyostelium purpureum Olive

 

15. Line 246 – “ pallidum” scientific name complete

 

Response: We have added the complete scientific name.

Modify as follows：

Morphological features of Heterostelium pallidum (Olive) S. Baldauf, S. Sheikh & Thulin

 

 

We have tried our best to improve the manuscript and have made some changes that marked in blue in revised paper. This do not influence the content and framework of the paper. We appreciate the efforts by the Editor/Reviewers to improve the manuscript and hope the revision will meet with your approval. Once again, thank you very much for your comments and suggestions.

 

Kind regards,

Pu Liu

E-mail address: [email protected]