Elucidation of Physio-Biochemical Changes in Citrus spp. Incited by Xanthomonas citri pv. citri

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript entitled 'Elucidation of physio-biochemical changes in Citrus spp. incited by Xanthomonas citri pv. citri' aimed at understanding the impact of Xanthomonas citri pv. citri on the structural and physio-chemical responses of Citrus genotypes. This was achieved by a comparative investigation of Citrus genotypes with contrasting disease resistance. 

This is a very interesting study with fairly written materials and methods and well presented results. The discussion is well written and links the current study to existing literature whilst addressing the objectives of the study. However, the abstract and introduction contain a lot of errors and grammatical inaccuracies. Some of the errors are captured in my comments below:

 

Abstract

The abstract should be improved. There are too many errors. For example,

Line 3 - the comma should be removed after the word 'factors',

Line 8 - there is 'an' instead of and

Line 11 - there is 'an' instead of and. The same applies for line 16. 

Line 17 - there is unnecessary space before the word phenyl

There are also grammatical errors that should be checked and corrected.

 

Introduction

Paragraph 1

The first sentence does not make sense. Please rephrase.

The third sentence, starting from line 3 is complex and too long. There is need to rewrite it. 

Line 8 - add 'the' between 'is' and 'most'

Line 13 and Line  20 - the authors should be consistent with either USD or US$

 

Paragraph 2

Line 1 - the first sentence should be rephrased. 

 

Paragraph 3

Line 1 - replace 'life time' with 'life cycle' and remove the phrase 'including biotic stresses' 

 

There are a lot more errors in the introduction that need to be checked and corrected. 

 

Materials and Methods

Paragraph 1 - Line 2 and Line 15: ICAR and FYM should be written in full respectively 

Section 2.4 - May the authors write all abbreviations in full as well, for example DMSO, the same applies for EDTA in Section 2.5.1

There are inconsistent use of units. For example in Section 2.3 line 5, the word 'min' is used but in Section 2.5.1.1 as well as other sections, the word 'minutes' is used. There is a need to also check spacing between units and figures, for example, degrees celcius in Section 2.5.1  line 8 is written with no space between the symbol and the figure whereas the opposite is true in most instances within the same manuscript. 

Section 2.6.2 - lines 9 and 10 are not adding value to the paragraph. 

It would have been interesting to compare total soluble protein using the TCA/acetone precipitation method and phenol extraction instead of using the enzyme extract. However the current method is still acceptable. 

 

After addressing the above concerns, the manuscript can be reconsidered after major revisions. 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Response

Sir

Please find attached the response to your comments

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors!

I thank the authors for the submitted manuscript. The article is devoted to a topical and complex topic devoted to the study of biochemical processes occurring in plants under biotic stress. The climate is changing, the distribution area of many phytopathogenic bacteria is expanding to the eastern and northern territories. At the same time, there are no effective and environmentally safe means for regulating the number of phytopathogenic bacteria. Therefore, it is extremely important to elucidate the features of the processes occurring during plant pathogenesis in order to develop means for combating plant diseases.

There are a number of recommendations for improving the manuscript:

1. There is not enough information in the introduction about the ways of infection of citrus plants with the pathogen Xanthomonas citri pv. citri (soil moisture, air, insects?). It is necessary to briefly add such information so that the reader understands the existence of a literature review on the size and number of stomatal gaps on the leaf blade. In its present form, your literature review is understandable only to specialists in this narrow field.

2. In the literature review, you explain the differences in the resistance of varieties to phytopathogenic bacteria by morphological features of the structure, however, your work is based on clarifying biochemical differences (enzyme activity, content of reactive oxygen species). I think that in the Introduction, in the paragraph devoted to the discussion of varieties with different resistance, it is necessary to write not about the morphological characteristics of plants, but about the features of the biochemical processes occurring in the tissues of plants of different varieties. You write about the role of individual components of the cell's antioxidant system during stress. However, this description needs to be edited, because it is just a listing of the functions of antioxidant enzymes and ROS. Before describing the individual components of the antioxidant system, it is necessary to briefly describe the mechanisms that occur in the cell under biotic stress caused by this pathogen. At the same time, combine in the description all the components of the antioxidant system that you mention below.

3. You write: “The plants were inoculated with X. citri pv. citri through pin-prick method in the first week of August, 2021”. Please explain why you chose this particular time point for plant inoculation with a phytopathogen?

4. Please in paragraph 2.2. indicate the composition and characteristics of the soil in the pots in which the plants were grown. Is it a soil-peat mix or a sand mix?

5. Please You determined the activity of guaiacol-dependent peroxidase specify this in your manuscript, because peroxidases in plants are several dozen species.

6. It is necessary to improve the quality of figure 4.

7. In the Discussion you write about hypersensitive response (HR). Indicate in the text whether this process is characteristic of the pathogenesis of Xanthomonas citri pv. citri? After all, not every biotrophic phytopathogen causes a hypersensitive response, especially in the host plant. For example, the biotrophic phytopathogen Clavibacter sepedonicus in the host plant Solanum tuberosum does not cause a hypersensitive response, spreading along the pathways throughout the plant. And in tobacco, Clavibacter sepedonicus causes a hypersensitive response, because. tobacco is not a host plant for this bacterium.

8. The list of references is outdated. Out of 114 literature sources, only 8 sources are for 2020-2022. It is necessary to update the list of literature, include fresh references for the last 2 years. There are recent articles by authors from Brazil and Korea on this topic.

Respectfully Yours, reviewer

January 12, 2023

Author Response

Sir

PFA the response to your comments.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript titled "Elucidation of physio-biochemical changes in Citrus spp. incited by Xanthomonas citri pv. citri" has been considerably improved. The grammar and continuity of language is now good.

 

However, the authors must consider the following comments before the manuscript can be accepted for publication:

 

Abstract

Line 7 - please add the word 'each' after the word 'genotypes'

 

Introduction

 Some of the corrections I pointed out in the first version of the manuscript have not been effected. For example:

 

Line 3 - the percentage symbol is used but on line 4 the word 'percent' is used. On line 8 the word is used whilst on line 11 the symbol is used. May the authors be consistent with only the symbol throughout the manuscript.

 

Line 8May the authors also include the scientific names for mango and banana

 

Line 10 - 'US dollars' is used but on line 18, 'USD' is used. May the authors be consistent with one term

Author Response

Madam/Sir

The response to the reviewer's comments attached after doing the needful.

Author Response File: Author Response.doc