Molecular Recognition and Cell Surface Biochemical Response of Bacillus thuringiensis on Triphenyltin
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Minor comments:
Line 22. Please, check times.
References. Bacillus thuringiensis should always be written in italics.
Author Response
Manuscript ID: processes-505660Title: Molecular recognition and cell surface biochemical response of Bacillus thuringiensis on triphenyltin
Type of manuscript: Article
Dear reviewer,
Processes,
Thanks for your careful reviewing on our paper entitled “ Molecular recognition and cell surface biochemical response of Bacillus
thuringiensis on triphenyltin”. We have revised the paper carefully according to the comments. The modifications are highlighted using the "Track Changes"
function in the revised version.Point 1: Line 22. Please, check times. References. Bacillus thuringiensis should always be written
in italics.Response 1: We have check the time, We have examined the paper and written all “Bacillus thuringiensis” in italics. In addition,
our paper has undergone English language editing by MDPI. The text has been checked for correct use of grammar and common technical
terms, and edited to a level suitable for reporting research in a scholarly journal. English editorial certificate see attachment.
The revised manuscript has been resubmitted to your journal. We look forward to your positive response. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Yan Long
School of Environment, Jinan University
Guangzhou 510632,China
Tel: +86 15913152627
E-mail: [email protected]
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors of the manuscript "Molecular recognition and cell surface biochemical 2 response of Bacillus
thuringiensis on triphenyltin" describe the effect of tat and Cu2+ on the bacterium species Bacillus thuringiensis using AFM and fluorescence techniques.
The subject is interesting in connection to many heavy metal contaminated environments.
The English language should be drastically improved.
The use of Cu (which is the metal) and Cu2+ (which is probably meant), is confusing.
In order to compare effects of various compounds, their concentrations should listed in Molair (M) units, not in 'mg/L'.
The sources of used chemicals should be provided.
Line 690: Are there not more compounds in this minimal salt media?
Line 108: What is 'cytoplasm'?
Line 168: Strange sentence:'the solubility of 1 mg TPT 168 in 1 L water is only 0.14 mg'. The solubility is a fixed value at a certain temperature.
Line 175: The Young's modulus values seems incorrect, they are factor 10 to 100 higher compared to other bacterial cells.
Fig 1 and following figures are not very well formatted. What are the a, b, AB, C, c, D etc.?
Line 201: The effect of carbon source could be easily tested by using another carbon source (e.g. glucose). Why was this not tested?
The effects of TPT and TPT-Cu2+ on fluorescent molecule uptake seems large. Was the effect of amount of cells and growth rate taken into account?
General comment: The authors do not describe biochemical pathways in the degradation of TPT.
What enzymes are involved, is there a induction of specific enzymes, and how are they affected by CU2+?
Author Response
Manuscript ID: processes-505660Title: Molecular recognition and cell surface biochemical response of Bacillus thuringiensis on triphenyltin
Type of manuscript: Article
Dear reviewer,
Processes,
Thanks for your careful reviewing on our paper entitled “ Molecular recognition and cell surface biochemical
response of Bacillus thuringiensis on triphenyltin”. We have revised the paper carefully according to the comments.
The modifications are highlighted using the "Track Changes" function in the revised version.
Point 1: The use of Cu (which is the metal) and Cu2+ (which is probably meant), is confusing.
Response 1: We used Cu2+ in our experiments and have changed the whole text Cu to Cu2+.
Point 2: In order to compare effects of various compounds, their concentrations should listed in Molair (M) units, not in 'mg/L'.
Response 2: We have revised the various compounds concentrations according to the comments. The modifications are highlighted in the revised version.
Point 3: The sources of used chemicals should be provided.
Response 3: We have added the sources of used chemicals according to the comments. The modifications are highlighted in 2.1. using the "Track Changes" function in the revised version.
Point 4:Line 90: Are there not more compounds in this minimal salt media?
Response 4: In the minimal salt media, We added KH2PO4, NaCl, NH4Cl, and MgSO4 compounds to distilled water for 30, 20, 30, and 10 mg·L-1, respectively. We considered that the medium contains no other substances.
Point 5:Line 108: What is 'cytoplasm'?
Response 5: Cytoplasm is intracellular fluid, We added the explanation and highlighted in line 128-132 in the revised version.
Point 6:Line 168: Strange sentence:'the solubility of 1 mg TPT 168 in 1 L water is only 0.14 mg'. The solubility is a fixed value at a certain temperature.
Response 6: we have revised 'the solubility of 1 mg TPT 168 in 1 L water is only 0.14 mg' to ‘1 L of water dissolve only 0.14 mg TPT at 25℃’.
Point 7: Line 175: The Young's modulus values seems incorrect, they are factor 10 to 100 higher compared to other bacterial cells.
Response 7: In our paper, the cells are immobilized on gel-modified mica sheets to test Young's modulus, the methods were in 2.3. Whereas, the other bacterial cells data were acquired in medium environment(e.g. References 14, They acquired the cells’ Young's modulus in RPMI-1640 medium environment at 37 °C using AFM). The difference in detection methods may be the cause of data inconsistency
Point 8:Fig 1 and following figures are not very well formatted. What are the a, b, AB, C, c, D etc.?
Response 8: we have added an explanation for a, b, AB, C, c, D etc. in the Figures. The modifications are highlighted in the revised version.
Point 9:Line 201: The effect of carbon source could be easily tested by using another carbon source (e.g. glucose). Why was this not tested?
Response 9: According our previous study, addition of the other carbon source (e.g. glucose) could adversely affect
the degradation of TPT by Bacillus thuringiensis. Moreover, some documents have reported that cell would growth slow,
collapse and shrank as lacking of nutriment[1]. Therefore, we did not test the effect of another carbon source
in the experiment.[1] J, J; Y, L; Chan, S. M., Effect of nutrients on the biodegradation of tributyltin (TBT) by alginate
immobilized microalga, Chlorella vulgaris, in natural river water. Journal of hazardous materials 2011, 185, 1582-1586.
Point 10:The effects of TPT and TPT-Cu2+ on fluorescent molecule uptake seems large. Was the effect of amount of cells and growth rate taken into account?
Response 10: In the methods of testing fluorescent intensity in 2.6, we controlled the same number of cells between the samples. During the short detection process, the bacteria hardly grow in the dye, and his growth rate has little effect on the experiment.
Regarding the biochemical pathways for the degradation of TPT, We have added the enzymes and their effects on Cu2+ in 3.4 and 3.5.
Our paper has undergone English language editing by MDPI. The text has been checked for correct use of grammar and common
technical terms, and edited to a level suitable for reporting research in a scholarly journal. English editorial certificate see attachment.
The revised manuscript has been resubmitted to your journal. We look forward to your positive response. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Yan Long
School of Environment, Jinan University
Guangzhou 510632,China
Tel: +86 15913152627
E-mail: [email protected]
