Evaluating the Diversity of Ecotypes of Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.) from Northwestern Spain by Phenotypic Traits and Microsatellites

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Intra specific variability in red clover accessions was the main aim of this paper including phenotyping and genotyping level. 

In table 1please country of origin of four varieties? All acces. are on diploid level? 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1:

Thank you for your comments. We have made the following changes in order to meet your approval:

your comment.  "In table 1please country of origin of four varieties", we have added them in table 1

your comment: "All acces. are on diploid level? 2 we have added in results:

We counted 61 genotypes (20%) with three alleles (triploids), 50 with four alleles (17%, tetraploids), whereas the remaining 189 were diploids (63%).

Reviewer 2 Report

Please see also the notes placed in the text of the papere.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2:

Thank you for your comments. We have made the following changes in order to meet your approval:

Your comment: “It is advisable to consider a more careful presentation of the vegetation factors both in the greenhouse and in the field, factors that can decisively influence the traits followed and the interpretation of the results. Also, in the introduction it is indicated to present concrete examples from your region / country regarding, ,,the possible supply of seeds to develop new varieties providing ecotypes adapted to our soil and climatic conditions. … a need to promote its use to obtain varieties for low-input agriculture, reducing production costs and in line with what the market demands, and at the same time improving the possibilities for crop diversification (greening) to encourage good environmental practices in crop production, as well as the maintenance of areas that are beneficial for mitigating climate change and for the benefit of the environment,, which may argue the importance of the research conducted. For the clarity of the research and a better understanding of the obtained results, it is necessary to clarify the method of evaluation of some targeted indicators such as the increases, CRE, Growth (cm) in flowering; CRF, Growth (cm) in the year of sowing; HAB, Growth habit in early spring before flowering, which in Tab. 1 seem to be measured (cm), while the paragraph Phenotypic traits mentions For characterization, the recommendations of the International Board for Plant Ge-netic Resources [3] and the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants [4 ] were followed. For each population and commercial cultivar, the following de-scriptors were evaluated: FLO: number of days from 1 January 2019, when three heads per plant were flowering per plot; CRE: Growth in flowering, on a visual scale from 1 to 9, 1 being a little and 9 much (after taking the annotation of flowering date); CRF: Growth in the year of sowing, on a visual scale from 1 to 9, 1 being a little and 9 much (in the year of sowing, at the end of winter); HAB: Growth habit in early spring before flowering, on a visual scale from 1 to 9, with 1 = prostrate to 9 = erect.”

Our changes:

In: Table 1. Populations and commercial cultivars studied (POP), location, reconstructed population obtained by the Structure software for K = 2 (1 and 2) and K = 3 (1, 2.1 and 2.2), province, altitude and phenotypic traits: FLO, number of days from 1 January 2019 when three heads per plant were flowering per plot; CRE, Growth in flowering (visual scale from 1 to 9, 1 being a little and 9 much); CRF, Growth in the year of sowing (visual scale from 1 to 9, 1 being a little and 9 much); HAB, Growth habit in early spring before flowering (1 = prostrate to 9 = erect); ENF, Tolerance to pests and diseases (1 = sensitive to 9 = resistant).