Xylem Hydraulic Conductance Role in Kiwifruit Decline Syndrome Occurrence

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The research is novel and the manuscript is very well prepared. I have only minor issues to be corrected before the acceptance:

L14 - Give abbreviation to KiDS when first mentioned

Provide standard deviation on bar charts.

Discussion too long and in parts repeats the Results section – please revise and delete repetitions. Do not refer to figures and tables in Discussion section.

Author Response

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Reviewer 2 Report

The work is interesting, but the hypotheses, as well as the experimental part and conclusions are inappropriate to the publication. How can we say that the effect is climatic if the two orchards were under the same climatic and even agronomic conditions? To assess the effect of climate change it would be necessary to first define what will be considered climate change. Daily environmental variations, such as light, temperature and water availability, lead plants to variations in their stomatal conductance, transpiration and carboxylation efficiency, however, this cannot be considered a stress. Stress is only established when there is damage, and therefore it is necessary to know what the natural responses of that plant will be under normal environmental conditions, to know if the response is specific to the plant or if it is a response to the stress. To assess stress, it must be induced to be able to evaluate, for example, providing different levels of water in the soil, or evaluations in dry and rainy conditions It is clear that plants with the same management and under the same environmental conditions may have different problems, and these must be considered. In plants under the same environmental conditions, it cannot be said that the climate caused the stress in one and no in other, unless there is another individual stress factor, such as the attack of a pathogen, or different genetics. Could it be that in one of the  orchard there was problems with pathogens and these caused the syndrome in the plants? Or other differences between the plants? In this case, there is a need to know whether the plants in both areas were free of pathogens. Therefore, I suggest that you rewrite your work with a different approach, because the results do not support the conclusions presented. In other words, there is no evidence of climate stress, so it couldn't be responsible for the kiwi syndrome.  The work is interesting, but it should be rewritten with a different focus. Unfortunately, as it is, I consider it unsuitable for publication in the Horticulturae.

Author Response

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Reviewer 3 Report

1. Please specify in the title, introduction and discussion which organ is responsible for the xylem hydraulic conductance. I think it's important to be clear about this for the credibility of the paper's conclusions.

2. No quantitative information appears to be found in the abstract.

3.In the introduction, please (1) reduce the introduction of kiwifruit comprehensive certificate; (2) Increase the basis for the scientific hypothesis of this paper and highlight the innovative contribution of this paper.

4.Integrate the basic introduction of different orchards and the status of soil irrigation, some information can be attached as a table.

5. It is necessary to clarify the role of the relevant indicators in explaining the objectives of the paper. The paper only listed the changes of relevant indicators such as leaf water potential and stomata. Unfortunately, it did not analyze the correlation between them and the anatomical parameters of roots, but only described the phenomena.

6.In the description of the results, the variation rules of some parameters are consistent, which should be integrated in a graph to show and describe.

7.The discussion should be carried out in conjunction with the key information from the paper. Please explain why no analysis has been conducted for the hydraulic properties of stem and leaf xylem.

Author Response

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Reviewer 4 Report

Using a combination of physiological and morphological methods, the authors studied data on physiological and morphological parameters of five-year-old kiwifruit plants in two closed and similarly managed orchards severely affected by KiDS in northern Italy.  The content of this paper requires some modifications.

1. In the abstract, it is recommended to supplement the methods used in the complete experiment and clarify the purpose. 

2. Check the full text grammar.

3. The logic in the introduction is a bit confusing, it is recommended to revise it.

4. It is recommended to expand the research progress in the introduction.

5. It is recommended that the introduction clarify the research methods and expected results.

6. The format of table data is not uniform, and a unified format is recommended. 

7. Does the number of repetitions need to be supplemented if the number of repetitions is not clearly stated in the experiment? 

8. In the results section, when analyzing the figure, please add what the data in the figure illustrates.

9. It is recommended that in the conclusion section, you briefly summarize the new methods that need to be adopted to solve the problem of KiDS, and emphasize the importance of research and the significance of practical application.

10. More specific data and statistics supporting the observations can be provided in the Discussion section.

11. The conclusion should highlight the core findings of the study, as well as suggestions for solutions to the problem or next steps for research.

12. It is recommended to put forward some future research directions in the conclusion, such as further exploring the mechanism of hydraulic conduction failure, finding more effective orchard management strategies, and in-depth study of other potential factors affecting plant health, etc.

13. It is recommended to update some of the latest paper references.

14. Check and standardize the format of references in papers.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

The author has revised the paper to the extent of his ability. However, the quality of the correlation chart needs to be improved. It is suggested to redraw all the charts, each chart should have clear coordinate scale, and some charts can be used as attached tables or drawings.

Author Response

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