Cartusia hunanesis sp. nov. (Oculatellaceae, Oculatellales) from a Stream in China Based on Polyphasic Approach
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript contains information about a new species Cartusia hunanesis sp. nov. described using a polyphasic approach based on morphology, electron microscopy and molecular phylogenetic analysis.
The manuscript makes an important contribution to our understanding of the phylogeny of the cyanobacteria, in particular of the family Oculatellaceae and the work fit the journal scope. In this way, I recommend publication after minor revisions.
Particular suggestion:
Abstract
“16S rRNA” should be “16S rRNA gene”.
I think the author should intuitively compare the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between the new species and the type species in abstract.
Introduction
“As an integral part of the earth's biosphere, cyanobacteria can be found from mountains to deserts, hot springs to polar regions.” Please add related references.
“Leptolyngbyaceae, as the largest family in the Synechococcales, have lots of genera including Nodosilinea, Oculatella, Pantanalinema, Alkalinema, Timaviella, Albertania, etc [12,17,23–25].” The Latin names of species and genus should be listed in full including the author name and year at its first appearance.
“Strunecký (2022) [28] divided Cyanophyceae into 20 orders: Gloeobacterales, Thermostichales, Aegeococcales, Pseudanabaenales, Gloeomargaritales, Prochlorotrichales, Synechococcales, Nodosilineales, Oculatellales, Leptolyngbyales, Geitlerinematales, Desertifilales, Oscillatoriales, Coleofasciculales, Spirulinales, Chroococcales, Gomontiellales, Chroococcidiopsidales and Nostocales.” There are only 19 orders here, Acaryochloridales is missing.
Materials and Methods
Please increase the latitude and longitude of the sampling point.
“6 ml” should be “ 6mL”.
In 2.2, how many individuals were measured?
In 2.3, please add specific PCR program.
In 2.4, please confirm the MEGA software version.
In 2.5, “16.S-23S” should be “16S-23S”.
Results
In reference stain, holotype here designated is ZZJ02. It means that reference strain is ZZJ02 as well. The second strain (ZJJ03) is indicated separately as an Additional strain.
Discussion
“The largest family Leptolyngbyaceae has attracted significantly more research attention in recent years.” and “Taxonomically, Cartusia fontana was derived from genus Leptolyngbya.” Please add related references.
“The output of the ITS secondary structure of D1–D1′, Box–B, and V3 helix revealed that the structure of D1–D1′ and Box–B helix were significantly different in the investigated strains ZJJ02 and ZJJ03 when compared with C. fontana D1–D1′ region of ZJJ02 and ZJJ03 was significantly shorter than the D1–D1′ region in C. fontana (Figure 4), the latter has multiple side branches from two large internal loops.” I'm not sure if there should be a comma or a period after "fontana". I think this sentence is too complicated, please simplify.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Please see attached for my comments.
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Comments.docx
Author Response
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Reviewer 3 Report
Comments on diversity-2173757 entitled “Cartusia hunanesis sp. nov. (Oculatellaceae, Oculatellales) from a stream in China based on polyphasic approach”
This manuscript presents description of new species, Cartusia hunanesis (Cyanobacteria), isolated from a stream in China. A comprehensive analysis of this taxon has been carried out using an integrative taxonomic approach, including light and transmission electron microscopy, phylogenetic and ITS secondary structure analysis. The results are interesting and well-presented, and allow to considering the described taxon as a new species. I have some suggestions for improving this manuscript.
Firstly, perhaps, it should be add the geography (Slovakia) of Cartusia fontana to the characteristics of the habitat in Table 1 for the convenience of comparing species.
Other minor revisions:
1) Page 1, fifth line from the top of Abstract: “Investigated stains…” should be corrected to “Investigated strains…”.
2) Page 3, second line from the top of page: “(light: dark)” should be corrected to “(light:dark)”.
3) Page 3, second line from the top of page: “(35 μmol.m–2.s–1)” should be corrected to “(35 μmol·m–2·s–1)”.
4) Page 3, line 10 from the top of page: For a light microscope and a camera, you should give the name of the manufacturer, city and country.
5) Page 3, line 24 from the top of page: “(10 μmol.L-1)” should be corrected to “(10 μmol·L-1)”.
6) Page 10, reference 4: “Brocke, H.J.; Piltz, B.; Herz, N.; Abed, R.M.M.; Palinska, K.A.; John, U.; Den haan, J.; de Beer, D. ;Nugues, M.M.” should be corrected to “Brocke, H.J.; Piltz, B.; Herz, N.; Abed, R.M.M.; Palinska, K.A.; John, U.; Den haan, J.; de Beer, D.; Nugues, M.M.”.
7) Page 10, reference 8: “pp. 3-46.” should be corrected to “pp. 3–46.”.
8) Page 10, reference 11: “European Journal of Phycology” should be corrected to “Eur. J. Phycol.”.
9) Page 10, reference 14: “Chroakolemma gen. nov.” should be corrected to “Chroakolemma gen. nov.”.
10) Page 10, reference 15: “Aerofilum fasciculatum gen. nov., sp. nov. (Oculatellaceae) and Euryhalinema pallustris sp. nov. (Prochlorotrichaceae)” should be corrected to “Aerofilum fasciculatum gen. nov., sp. nov. (Oculatellaceae) and Euryhalinema pallustris sp. nov. (Prochlorotrichaceae)”.
11) Page 10, reference 23: “Oculatella subterranea (Oscillatoriales, Cyanophyceae) gen. et sp. nov.” should be corrected to “Oculatella subterranea (Oscillatoriales, Cyanophyceae) gen. et sp. nov.”.
12) Page 10, reference 25: “Albertania skiophila (Leptolyngbyaceae) gen. & sp. nov.” should be corrected to “Albertania skiophila (Leptolyngbyaceae) gen. & sp. nov.”.
13) Page 10, reference 26: “Aerofilum fasciculatum gen. nov., sp. nov.(Oculatellaceae) and Euryhalinema pallustris sp. nov.(Prochlorotrichaceae)” should be corrected to “Aerofilum fasciculatum gen. nov., sp. nov. (Oculatellaceae) and Euryhalinema pallustris sp. nov. (Prochlorotrichaceae)”.
14) Page 10, reference 28: “Strunecký, O.; Ivanova, A.P.; Mareš, J. An updated classification of cyanobacterial orders and families based on phylogenomic and polyphasic analysis1. J. Phycol. Stage of publication (accepted).” should be corrected to “Strunecký, O.; Ivanova, A.P.; Mareš, J. An updated classification of cyanobacterial orders and families based on phylogenomic and polyphasic analysis. J. Phycol. Stage of publication (accepted).”.
15) Page 11, reference 31: “Limnothrix redekei (Van Goor) Meffert (Cyanobacteria) strains” should be corrected to “Limnothrix redekei (Van Goor) Meffert (Cyanobacteria) strains”.
16) Page 11, reference 32: “CSHL Press, Cold Spring Harbor: New York, USA, 2001;2344p.” should be corrected to “CSHL Press, Cold Spring Harbor: New York, USA, 2001; 2344p.”.
17) Page 11, reference 39: “Evolutionary Bioinformatics 2015, 11, 43–48.” should be corrected to “Evolutionary Bioinformatics 2015, 11, 43–48.”.
18) Page 11, reference 42: “Ukranian Botanical Journal 2017, 74, 509–520.” should be corrected to “Ukranian Botanical Journal 2017, 74, 509–520.”.
19) Page 11, reference 45: “Leptolyngbya corticola sp. nov.” should be corrected to “Leptolyngbya corticola sp. nov.”.
20) Page 11, reference 46: “Oxynema aestuarii sp. nov.” should be corrected to “Oxynema aestuarii sp. nov.”.
Comments for author File: Comments.docx
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Line 37-39: the transition can be improved. for example:
"In addition, cyanobacteria can form dense blooms which will impact waterquality of both freshwater and marine environments [7]. Previous studies showed that the formation of cyanobacterial blooms is related to the co-occurred microorganisms [Wang and Mou, 2021] but limited pure isolates are available to study the interaction between cyanobacteria and the co-occurring microorganisms. The isolation of pure and new cyanobacterial species can help to study the mechanisms of cyanobacterial bloom development.
Coordinated diel gene expression of cyanobacteria and their microbiome
K Wang, X Mou - Microorganisms, 2021"Author Response
point1：Line 37-39: the transition can be improved. for example:
"In addition, cyanobacteria can form dense blooms which will impact water
quality of both freshwater and marine environments [7]. Previous studies showed that the formation of cyanobacterial blooms is related to the co-occurred microorganisms [Wang and Mou, 2021] but limited pure isolates are available to study the interaction between cyanobacteria and the co-occurring microorganisms. The isolation of pure and new cyanobacterial species can help to study the mechanisms of cyanobacterial bloom development.
Response 1: Thank you so much for your valuable suggestion, we have added this information in the revised manuscript.
