Cadmium Transport in Maize Root Segments Using a Classical Physiological Approach: Evidence of Influx Largely Exceeding Efflux in Subapical Regions
, Michele Pesenti, Gian Attilio Sacchi, Fabio Francesco Nocito and Maurizio Cocucci *
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors
Dear Authors
This paper "Cadmium Influx and Efflux in Subapical Maize Root Segments: Evidence from a Classical Physiological Approach" requires significant revisions. The introduction lacks the necessary background information to fully understand the context of the study, and needs to be revised for clarity and conciseness. The methods section must be more detailed and include information about the experimental setup and materials used. The results section needs to be better organized with clearer tables and figures to illustrate the findings. The discussion section should provide more insight into the implications of the results, connecting them to the existing literature. The conclusion must be more robust and draw stronger connections between the results and the original research question. Finally, the references need to be updated and more recent relevant studies should be included. Additionally, the language and writing style throughout the paper must be improved for clarity and conciseness.
For detailed comments please see my attachment.
Regards
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
REVIEWER 1
Reviewer: This paper "Cadmium Influx and Efflux in Subapical Maize Root Segments: Evidence from a Classical Physiological Approach" requires significant revisions. The introduction lacks the necessary background information to fully understand the context of the study, and needs to be revised for clarity and conciseness. The methods section must be more detailed and include information about the experimental setup and materials used. The results section needs to be better organized with clearer tables and figures to illustrate the findings. The discussion section should provide more insight into the implications of the results, connecting them to the existing literature. The conclusion must be more robust and draw stronger connections between the results and the original research question. Finally, the references need to be updated and more recent relevant studies should be included. Additionally, the language and writing style throughout the paper must be improved for clarity and conciseness.
For detailed comments please see my attachment.
Answer-Point 1: The paper’s title has been modified and improved as suggested by the Reviewer. A new title is now: “Cadmium transport in maize root segments using a classical physiological approach: evidence of influx largely exceeding efflux in subapical regions”. We believe that this title better summarizes the main finding of the work.
Answer-Point 2: The abstract has been improved according to the Reviewer’s suggestions. Thank you very much for the comments.
Answer-Point 3: The introduction has been improved according to the Reviewer’s suggestions. Additional background information has been included to better understand the study's context.
Answer-Point 4: The material and methods section has been improved according to the Reviewer’s suggestions.
Answer-Point 5: The results section has been improved. A supplementary figure (Figure S1) has been added to support readers in better understanding results of the experiment performed with plasma membrane vesicles.
Answer-Point 6: The discussion section has been improved according to the Reviewer’s suggestions.
Answer-Point 7: Other relevant references have been included in the revised version of the manuscript. However, considering the physiological approach used in this work it is difficult to find recent studies on the topic. Notwithstanding this limitation all the relevant papers have been cited.
Answer-Point 8: Language and writing style throughout the paper has been improved for clarity and conciseness according to the Reviewer’s suggestion.
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Editor: This paper has focused on the kinetic analysis of cadmium ion uptake by the root of plant. The mathematics model is adaptable and the results were also good, but the concentration range of Cd used shall be with to the real sampling data range in the contaminated soil fields.
Author Response
REVIEWER 2
Reviewer: This paper has focused on the kinetic analysis of cadmium ion uptake by the root of plant. The mathematics model is adaptable and the results were also good, but the concentration range of Cd used shall be with to the real sampling data range in the contaminated soil fields.
Answer: We thank the Reviewer for the appreciation of our work. Concerning the concentration of Cd2+ used for the experiments, this is a physiological work aimed at identifying and characterizing the plasma membrane activities involved in mediating Cd2+ and Ca2+ influx and efflux. So, we have chosen a wide range of Cd2+ and Ca2+ external concentrations to gain information about the kinetic parameters of each activity involved. Such an approach is essential for estimating Km and Vmax of each activity or complex mechanism involved. Notwithstanding this limitation, our work may also provide information about Cd fluxes in realistic environmental conditions since the lowest Cd2+ concentrations used for the experiments are similar to those measured in weakly contaminated soils.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors
I am satisfied with the corrected manuscript.
Regards
