Inter-Specific Hybridization in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) for Crop Improvement

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Although this manuscript summarizes the research results on inter-specific hybridization of G. hirsutum among Cotton species, it is based on too old information. A lot of detailed analysis of Cotton's genome has been done in the last 5 years. Although this manuscript was submitted for review, it is not suitable for review because many recent important references are missing in the manuscript. Therefore, the manuscript as a whole must be rewritten with the latest information. Therefore, it cannot be published in the Agronomy Journal.

Minor points:

In the manuscript, errors are found in many parts. The following should be corrected and added.

Title should be changed into ‘Inter-specific hybridization in Cotton...“

2. Line 433. References cannot be found in the References list.

3. Several important references for logical development are omitted from this review.

-Plant Breeding 132, 211–216 (2013)

-The Journal of Cotton Science 10:263–272 (2006)

-Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 10 (2): 862-873 (Jun 2019)

-Theor Appl Genet (2005) 111: 764–771

-PLoS One. 2016 Jan 5;11(1):e0143646.

-G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 2015. 5: 1187-1209

-Hinze et al. BMC Plant Biology (2017) 17:37

-BMC Genomics (2020) 21:431

-BMC Genomics (2018) 19:15

Author Response

Point 1: Although this manuscript summarizes the research results on inter-specific hybridization of G. hirsutum among Cotton species, it is based on too old information. A lot of detailed analysis of Cotton's genome has been done in the last 5 years. Although this manuscript was submitted for review, it is not suitable for review because many recent important references are missing in the manuscript. Therefore, the manuscript as a whole must be rewritten with the latest information. Therefore, it cannot be published in the Agronomy Journal.

Response 1: We have revised the whole manuscript. We have updated the latest information on the analysis of Cotton's genome has been done in the last 5 years with latest published research work according to your valuable comments.

Minor points:

Point :Title should be changed into ‘Inter-specific hybridization in Cotton...“

Response 1: The title of manuscript has been updated as “Inter-specific Hybridization in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) for Crop Improvement

Point 2: 2. Line 433. References cannot be found in the References list.

Response 2: The reference has been updated.

Point 2:  Several important references for logical development are omitted from this review.

-Plant Breeding 132, 211–216 (2013)

-The Journal of Cotton Science 10:263–272 (2006)

-Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 10 (2): 862-873 (Jun 2019)

-Theor Appl Genet (2005) 111: 764–771

-PLoS One. 2016 Jan 5;11(1):e0143646.

-G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 2015. 5: 1187-1209

-Hinze et al. BMC Plant Biology (2017) 17:37

-BMC Genomics (2020) 21:431

-BMC Genomics (2018) 19:15

Response 3: Thanks, you very much for your valuable recommendations and kind support to improve the quality of our manuscript. We have revised the manuscript and updated the information and cited these good research articles.

Point 1: Although this manuscript summarizes the research results on inter-specific hybridization of G. hirsutum among Cotton species, it is based on too old information. A lot of detailed analysis of Cotton's genome has been done in the last 5 years. Although this manuscript was submitted for review, it is not suitable for review because many recent important references are missing in the manuscript. Therefore, the manuscript as a whole must be rewritten with the latest information. Therefore, it cannot be published in the Agronomy Journal.

Response 1: We have revised the whole manuscript. We have updated the latest information on the analysis of Cotton's genome has been done in the last 5 years with latest published research work according to your valuable comments.

Minor points:

Point :Title should be changed into ‘Inter-specific hybridization in Cotton...“

Response 1: The title of manuscript has been updated as “Inter-specific Hybridization in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) for Crop Improvement

Point 2: 2. Line 433. References cannot be found in the References list.

Response 2: The reference has been updated.

Point 2:  Several important references for logical development are omitted from this review.

-Plant Breeding 132, 211–216 (2013)

-The Journal of Cotton Science 10:263–272 (2006)

-Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 10 (2): 862-873 (Jun 2019)

-Theor Appl Genet (2005) 111: 764–771

-PLoS One. 2016 Jan 5;11(1):e0143646.

-G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics. 2015. 5: 1187-1209

-Hinze et al. BMC Plant Biology (2017) 17:37

-BMC Genomics (2020) 21:431

-BMC Genomics (2018) 19:15

Response 3: Thanks, you very much for your valuable recommendations and kind support to improve the quality of our manuscript. We have revised the manuscript and updated the information and cited these good research articles.

Reviewer 2 Report

Manuscript has potential to be published as review in Agronomy, however, it needs to include some recent and updated reports of introgression breeding in cotton improvement (examples mentioned in review comments). Further, in text citations are not correct at few places in manuscript that needs to be addressed before it can be accepted.

1.       Need extensive amendments to be considered as a scientific article. Manuscript lacks professional writing in context of grammar and sentence structure.

3.       Line 58, 60 and 63 needs reference

4.       I suggest the authors should not use apostrophe s to start the sentence, instead rephrase the sentences. Please see line 68 and please correct it throughout the manuscript

5.       Line 77 needs a reference

6.       Please remove a redundant part of the sentence (Africa and Asia) in line 87

7.       Information in line 109 is outdated and have been updated in a 2017 publication, please see Gallagher et al. 2017

8.       When discussing important fiber quality traits, I think authors should also include at least one original research that discovered significant genetic variation in these traits. For example, please see Meredith and Bridge, 1973.

9.       In line 346, I would suggest adding some new reports such as Chandnani et al. 2017 and 2018 that have explored the genetic variation in advanced stages of introgression breeding between G. hirsutum and G. barbadense and compared genetic variation for fiber quality traits in reciprocal backgrounds.

1In line 366 and 377 where, interspecific hybrid incompatibility and the effect multilocus interactions on segregation of donor genome, authors should also mention the reports by Waghmare et al. 2016 and Chandnani et al. 2017 about the impact of similar factors affecting transmission genetics from wild species G. tomentosum and G. mustelinum.

1   Did authors generate the figures by themselves originally? If not and obtained them from other publications, then please cite the publications

1Citations in Table2 foot note seems to be incorrect as per my knowledge, QTL study with G mustelinum as donor parent was reported by Wang et al 2017 and its not reported in references for Table 2. Further Draye et al 2005 seems not relevant for the table. Please correct or clarify that.

1 Line 473, citation does not look correct, please go through whole manuscript and verify in text citations to context they are related with.

1Prior to the conclusion, I would suggest that authors discuss some part of identification of potential candidate genes by supporting reports of transcriptomic sequencing related to fiber quality QTLs in Gossypium hirsutum. For example, please see Wang et al. 2020 and Lu et al. 2021

Author Response

Point1 : Manuscript has the potential to be published as a review in Agronomy, however, it needs to include some recent and updated reports of introgression breeding in cotton improvement (examples mentioned in review comments). Further, in text citations are not correct at a few places in a manuscript that needs to be addressed before it can be accepted.

Response 1 : We have revised the whole manuscript. We have updated the latest information on introgression breeding in cotton improvement, which has been done in the recent years with latest published research work according to your valuable comments.

Point 2: Need extensive amendments to be considered as a scientific article. Manuscript lacks professional writing in context of grammar and sentence structure.

Response 2:  We have revised  the whole manuscript and rewritten the some parts of manuscript. We have corrected the grammar mistakes and restructure the sentences, where it needed.

Point 3: Line 58, 60 and 63 needs reference

Response 3: References has been cited and updated according to the text as identified according to your comments.

Point 4:  I suggest the authors should not use apostrophe s to start the sentence, instead rephrase the sentences. Please see line 68 and please correct it throughout the manuscript

Response 4: We have revised the the throughout  manuscripts and updated accrding to your valuable suggestion.

 Point 5:  Line 77 needs a reference

Response 5: Reference has been cited.

 Point 6: Please remove a redundant part of the sentence (Africa and Asia) in line 87

Response 5: We have removed the redundant part of the sentence (Africa and Asia) in line 87.

 Point 7: Information in line 109 is outdated and have been updated in a 2017 publication, please see Gallagher et al. 2017

Response 7: The information has been updated from the article (Gallagher et al. 2017) according to your valuable recommendation.

Point 8: When discussing important fiber quality traits, I think authors should also include at least one original research that discovered significant genetic variation in these traits. For example, please see Meredith and Bridge, 1973.

Response 8:

Point 9:   In line 346, I would suggest adding some new reports such as Chandnani et al. 2017 and 2018 that have explored the genetic variation in advanced stages of introgression breeding between G. hirsutum and G. barbadense and compared genetic variation for fiber quality traits in reciprocal backgrounds.

Response 9: we have added the new and updated information  on genetic variation in advanced stages of introgression breeding between G. hirsutum and G. barbadense and compared genetic variation for fiber quality traits in reciprocal backgrounds.

Point 10: In line 366 and 377 where, interspecific hybrid incompatibility and the effect multilocus interactions on segregation of donor genome, authors should also mention the reports by Waghmare et al. 2016 and Chandnani et al. 2017 about the impact of similar factors affecting transmission genetics from wild species G. tomentosum and G. mustelinum.

Response 10: We have updated the information according to your good recommendation.

Point 11: Did authors generate the figures by themselves originally? If not and obtained them from other publications, then please cite the publications.

Response 11: We have updated the figures and cited the original sources in the text.

Point 12: Citations in Table2 foot note seems to be incorrect as per my knowledge, QTL study with G mustelinum as donor parent was reported by Wang et al 2017 and its not reported in references for Table 2. Further Draye et al 2005 seems not relevant for the table. Please correct or clarify that.

Response 12: Thanks you very much for deep review our manuscript and valuable recommendations. We have revised the information and reference in Table 2.

Point 13: Line 473, citation does not look correct, please go through whole manuscript and verify in text citations to context they are related with.

Response 13: The whole manuscript has been revised. The reference has been corrected and cited in the relevant text.

Point 14:Prior to the conclusion, I would suggest that authors discuss some part of identification of potential candidate genes by supporting reports of transcriptomic sequencing related to fiber quality QTLs in Gossypium hirsutum. For example, please see Wang et al. 2020 and Lu et al.

2021

Reviewer 3 Report

Article authors: Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Anwar, Aamir Ali Abro, Ali Mura Rahoo, Muhammad Ihtisham, Maksat Batyrbek, Shoukat Ibrahim Abro, Shabana Memon, Naveed Yaseen Sial, Saba Ambreen Memon, and Yan Peng «Inter-specific and Hybridization in Cotton (Gossypium hirsu-2 tum) for Crop Improvement» is dedicated to the current topic.

The text is well structured and informative, contains illustrative material.

The article will be useful both for novice researchers and for those who have been studying this subject for a long time.

Recommendations:

1. For better perception of the section “Origin and Taxonomy of Gossypium hirsutum” it is recommended to provide illustrative material.

2. It is necessary to divide Figure 2 into 4 sub-figures, change the Figure’s caption and add an appropriate description to the text.

3. You must complete the "Author Contributions" section.

4. Сheck the text and italicize all species names.

Author Response

Point 1: For better perception of the section “Origin and Taxonomy of Gossypium hirsutum” it is recommended to provide illustrative material.

Response 1: Thank you very much for your valuable suggestion about “Origin and Taxonomy of Gossypium hirsutum” we have revised the this section and put the illustrative material regarding origin and taxonomy of gossypium hirsutum. Please check the table 1 and Lines 137-140, 142-146. 159-163.

Point 2:  It is necessary to divide Figure 2 into 4 sub-figures, change the Figure’s caption and add an appropriate description to the text.

Response 2: we have updated the figures 2 according to your kind suggestion. The Figure’s caption and description has been revised.

Point 3:  You must complete the "Author Contributions" section.

Response 3:  we have updated the information of authors contribution in "Author Contributions" section”

Point 4:  Сheck the text and italicize all species names.

Response 4: we have checked whole text and have done italic form of all species names.