Effects of Temperature on Growth and Isoprene Metabolism Pathway in Eucommia ulmoides Oliv
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript, entitled: "Effects of temperature on growth and isoprene metabolism pathway in Eucommia ulmoides Oliv." it is about the examination of young individuals of a woody plant native to China.
This study investigated the effect of temperature on growth and isoprene metabolism of Eucommia ulmoides seedlings. The growth index and levels of rubber and total triterpenoids in leaves were evaluated at three temperature treatments. After 40 days, leaf length, leaf width and plant height were significantly lower in the low and high temperature treatments compared to the control.
Specific leaf weight was higher in LT-treated seedlings. Chlorophyll synthesis was the most intense in control leaves. The carotenoid content was the highest in the LT treatments. The rubber content was the highest in the control leaves. However, the total triterpene content was the lowest in the control plants. This study provides insights into the efficient cultivation of E.ulmoides and the molecular regulatory network of secondary metabolic pathways.
The methodological description is adequate and easily reproducible. The presentation of the results is thorough, and the conclusions drawn from the results are well-founded.
After minor grammatical and formal corrections I recommend publishing the manuscript in the form of a scientific article.
Author Response
Thank you for taking the time to review this manuscript. We have made the necessary modifications based on your suggestions. Please refer to the attached document for the updated version.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsLine 33: The information about the location of the MEP pathway could be integrated more smoothly into the sentence.
Line 34-35: The sentence is somewhat complex and may benefit from rephrasing for clarity.
Line 37: The phrase "and so on" (etc.) is vague and could be omitted for clarity.
Line 42: The sentence structure is somewhat convoluted and could be simplified for clarity.
Line 57: It would be beneficial to provide some context or examples of these applications.
Line 60: The connection between IPP and terpenoids could be explained more clearly.
Line 62-64: The list of environmental factors could be structured more clearly.
Line 86: The phrase "to possess more than six real leaves" can be altered to “six leaf stage”.
Line 89: It would be beneficial to briefly explain the rationale for choosing these specific temperature settings.
Line 93-95: The sentence is somewhat long and could be made more concise for clarity.
Line 201-203: Please elaborate more on statistical analysis such as ANOVA. Also, Tukey’s is used for “mean separation”, not “significance of difference”.
Figure 2: Please redo the figure, it is very clumsy.
Figure 3: Please do not mix mean separation data and regression data in one figure.
Line 332-333: The sentence is somewhat long and complex. It could be simplified for clarity.
Line 340: The word "expedite" may be out of place. You can use a more common word like "accelerate."
Line 358: The phrase "basic biology of biomass increase under adversity" is somewhat unclear. It could be rephrased for clarity.
Line 363: The sentence can be made more explicit by specifying a value for what the "lower rubber content" means.
Line 365: It would be beneficial to provide the specific values or percentages for clarity, or specify table/figure number.
The discussion does not flow properly, it is inconsistent with research questions mentioned in introduction.
Author Response
Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. The relevant suggestions have been modified. Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsEffects of temperature on growth and isoprene metabolism pathway in Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. is an interesting work where methods of quantification of the plants are developed taking into account different development temperatures.
The article is meticulously presented, and the authors took care of all the analytical aspects. An excellent research.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Effects of temperature on growth and isoprene metabolism pathway in Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. is an interesting work where methods of quantification of the plants are developed taking into account different development temperatures.
The article is meticulously presented, and the authors took care of all the analytical aspects. An excellent research.
Author Response
Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript. The relevant suggestions have been modified. Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors have followed the reviewers' suggestions and the manuscript looks good. However, I did not mean beautification of figures when I said they are 'clumsy'. For example: Figures 1, 2 and 3 can have a common x axis. Please refer other papers doing the same.
Author Response
Thank you for your valuable suggestions to help us improve the article! The images have been modified as requested, although I am uncertain if they fully comply with the requirements. It is possible that the journal will have a more polished layout to accommodate any imperfections in image sizes.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
