Optimization of Stationary Liquid Fermentation Conditions for N-Methylsansalvamide Production by the Endophytic Strain Fusarium sp. R1

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

General comment: Nice exercise in DOE with successful result. Mostly well written.

Line 56: Clarify the term "stationary", also Line 76, has "static" the same meaning? Why is this type of condition employed?

Line 76: What ist the seed culture, is it the culture grown on PDB medium? What is "5% v/v" relating to, the dilution of seed culture or the biomass content? 

Line 94: Clarify "loading volume".

Line 174: "SA production decreased" is misleading, according to Fig 3a, SA is consumed after day 13

Fig.3: y-axis ("Yield SA") shows "SA concentration", yield is usually defined in relation to substrate.

Lines 228-238: If "loading volume" is the relative filling volume in a 1 Liter Erlenmeyer flask, the ratio of gas/liquid surface to liquid volume influences oxygen supply in liquid. Due to the conical shape of the flask, evaluation of the surface to volume ratio is complicated for different filling levels. From these data, a scale-up of the fermentation process is not possible. Would there be a better parameter to describe oxygen supply?           What is the "surface area of strain" and how is it determined?

Lines 252-253: "glucose" replaced by "sugar, glucose," makes no sense. Glucose is also a sugar, probably "sugar" should be saccharose. Replacing glucose with glucose is redundant.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Overall, the manuscript is very well written. Only some minor details need to be addressed.

 

Abstract

Fine as is

 

1. Introduction

Concise and to the point. Should be kept as is.

 

2. Materials and Methods

Very clear and easy to follow. Should be kept as is.

 

3. Results

Line 199: “Strain R1 produced SA through anaerobic fermentation. Consequently, SA was produced at a higher rate at lower ambient temperatures when there was more dissolved oxygen present in the culture medium.” These sentences require a bit work as anaerobic fermentation and more dissolved oxygen are usually not correlated.

 

4. Discussion

I would recommend the authors to add the heading Conclusion to the last paragraph in the Discussion section.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thanks for your kind comments on our manuscript (Fermentation-2895373). According to your valuable suggestions, the original work had been carefully revised and marked in red. Sincerely hope this new version will be accepted for publication. Our point-to-point reply is as followings:

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Problem 1: Line 199:"Strain R1 produced SA through anaerobic fermentation. Consequently, SA was produced at a higher rate at lower ambient temperatures when there was more dissolved oxygen present in the culture medium." These sentences require a bit work as anaerobic fermentation and more dissolved oxygen are usually not correlated.

Our reply: Thank you very much for this kind advice. The misleading sentence had been deleted.

Problem 2: I would recommend the authors to add the heading Conclusion to the last paragraph in the Discussion section.

Our reply: Done as suggested.

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Prof. Dr. Huawei Zhang

School of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Zhejiang University of Technology

Hangzhou 310014

China