Tomato Accumulates Cadmium to a Concentration Independent of Plant Growth
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsIn general, I think this first manuscript is interesting, but it could be improved. Authors should provide more information to the reader from the point of view of the experimental procedure and the results sections. In order to improve the text, I raise the following questions:
- I think that in the Introduction more emphasis should be placed about the maximum levels of Cd allowed in this type of food. In this way, in the results or discussion sections, clarify if any concentration surpasses any value and can be dangerous for human health.
- In the paragraph from lines 55-75, are the studies discussed based on tomatoes or other plants? Specify please.
- It would be useful to add some images or schemes to better explain and visualize the experiments.
- Some section titles used look like conclusions rather than titles. Please, change in this way: For example, “3.1. Accumulation of Cd in tomato” instead of “3.1. Tomato accumulates Cd predominantly in shoots”, which would be the conclusion of the section.
- Are the 31 tomato cultivars different? Are they different varieties? Please specify.
- What is the most cultivated tomato in China?
- Why do you name the cultivars with too different names “HX, HF122, HF155, “JNBL”? Does this have any kind of meaning?
- What is the dilution used after samples digestion (line 125)? Add this information.
- As described in section 2.1, first a cultivation substrate with 1 mg/kg Cd is used and later you transplant seedlings to another substrate with concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 4.0 mg/kg? Please confirm this and consider that these final Cd concentrations will be higher. It is a bit confusing as written. Add a scheme.
- In Figure 1 you put (a) before the meaning (Cd concentration in root, shoot, etc), but in the rest the letter (a) is after the meaning. Please, unify the style used in the manuscript.
- Why do you explain the different Cd concentrations/accumulation in the different tomato cultivars? What would be the reason?
- I think it would be interesting to add a table with the studies mentioned in Discussion section.
- I think Figure 1 should be inserted in the correct place between parts of the text.
- Author contributions are not complete!
- All the references must be changed into the journal format! https://www.mdpi.com/journal/horticulturae/instructions
- I am curious about how you finally managed the Cd-rich tomato waste.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper shows the connection between cadmium accumulation and the growth parameters of the plants, although no significant correlations were found. However, when the plant was exposed to an additional amount of cadmium, an accumulation of cadmium in the plant tissue could be detected. Therefore, future work should perhaps shed new light on the mechanisms of cadmium distribution in the aerial parts, especially in leaves and fruits.
The paper is well written and the text is clear, with a large amount of detailed information. The title and abstract actually reflect what is covered in the paper. There are some issues (grammatical errors) that need to be fixed, such as spaces between numbers and units.
In Introduction, line 67 ”… In a similar vein…” did you think in a similar way?
The references throughout the paper and in the references chapter do not follow the journal's instructions for authors.
What interests me is whether the authors have monitored the effect of pH on the accumulation of cadmium? Indeed, various studies have shown that pH has an effect on cadmium absorption, as the availability of Cd for absorption by roots increases with Cd content and soil acidity (e.g. pH is about ten times lower at pH = 5.0 than at pH = 7.0)
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageSome expressions and phrases are unclear and a bit confusing, so it is necessary moderate editing of English language
Author Response
Please see the attachment.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear authors,
Thank you for following the suggestions given. I think the paper has been improved. Just a couple of issues that have not been completely clarified:
In the paragraph from lines 55-75, are the studies discussed based on tomatoes or other plants? Specify please.
Response: Those studies are based on both tomato and other plants, for which we have clarified in the revised draft.
New comment: I think you should specify in each sentence what type of plant it is.
What is the dilution used after samples digestion (line 125)? Add this information.
Response: The dilution used is just deionized water, as detailed in this paper (line 125).
New comment: I wanted to refer to what is the final volume (25 mL, 50 mL, etc?).
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageMinor editing of English language required
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for reviewing our manuscript again. We have revised and improved the manuscript again according to your suggestions. Additionally, we have highlighted the changes in the revised manuscript using yellow shading. The following are our responses to your comments：
In the paragraph from lines 55-75, are the studies discussed based on tomatoes or other plants? Specify please.
Response: Those studies are based on both tomato and other plants, for which we have clarified in the revised draft.
New comment: I think you should specify in each sentence what type of plant it is.
New responses: Now we have specified in each sentence what kind of plant it is. We add this information in the Introduction part in the revised manuscript.
What is the dilution used after samples digestion (line 125)? Add this information.
Response: The dilution used is just deionized water, as detailed in this paper (line 125).
New comment: I wanted to refer to what is the final volume (25 mL, 50 mL, etc?).
New responses: The final volume is 25mL. We add this information in the M&M part in the revised manuscript.
