Alleviating Effects of Linalool Fumigation on Botrytis cinerea Infections in Postharvest Tomato Fruits
, Qifang Wang 1, Jianquan Wang 1, Jiarui Ge 1, Xiaoyu Yang 1,2, Xiaoyun Wang 1,2, Xiuming Li 1,2, Yan Zhang 1,2, Ruimin Zhang 1,2,* and Qinghua Shi 1,2,*
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Ideas and goals must be better presented at the end of the introduction.
All applied methods must be covered by references.
On some graphs it is very difficult to see the markings, the authors can improve the quality.
One paragraph of the general discussion is missing, where the authors would discuss the results and their interpretation based on a synthetic scientific approach. Also in this part, the scientific novelty of the results should be highlighted in more detail.
Bearing in mind the conducted study and methodological approach, it was stated that the conclusion was written very simply. The conclusion should be improved based on all the results obtained.
References must be written completely uniformly, following the instructions for authors. Pay attention to the writing of the title of the papers in both capital and small letters. It is also noted in the references that Latin species names must be in italics.
Author Response
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Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
I found that the research was well-planned and conducted. The paper presents interesting results, but I found important criticalities limiting its possibility to be published in the present form.
The results contain information that must instead be described in "materials and methods". The discussion must be completely revised in style and syntax. I enclose the text with some notes where the main points to be revised are reported.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
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Reviewer 3 Report
Materials and Methods: Please describe the source of linalool, geraniol and nerol for experimentation. What solvent was used to prepare the initial solution? If it is not distilled water, have the appropriate aliquots of diluent in the controls been added?
121 Explain the methodology: Is "Highest level of disease" always equal to 5? If not, how is it determined? Explain if "Total number of fruits" is calculated for each treatment option or is it the sum of all fruits in all options? The indicator "Control Effect" is described in the methodology, but is not found anywhere else. However, a similar indicator occurs in lines 236-240. Here it is called "inhibiting effect". Check and unify terms.
236-240, 287 and 302-303: Percentages are given with excessive precision. Please leave 1 character after the dot.
Fig.3. Panels b and c repeat the same data, calculated as the mean "lesion diameter" and the derivative of the first "disease index". The disease index does not appear to be used anywhere else in the manuscript. Fig.3c and the corresponding method for calculating it in section "2.5. Determination of the disease index of tomato fruits gray mold" may be deleted.
134 fllowing
150 malondialdehyde (MDA), 155 - MDA
151 5% trichlo-150 roacetic acid add abbreviation (TCA) in brackets
158 ploygalacturonase
Ascorbic acid is marked as AsA in the Methodology, but as ASA in Figure 4. Please unify.
334-335 B. cinerea infection causes biotic stress, not "abiotic stress"
343 enzymes, Higher accumulations
400 "inhibiting pathogens from expanding on fruits" does not mean "linalool direct kills B. cinerea". Maybe it's just slow growth.
Author Response
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