Potential Assessment of Selenium for Improving Nitrogen Metabolism, Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Wheat
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 1)
New technologies of fertilization are needed that can improve nitrogen use efficiency with the aim of reducing the use of mineral nitrogen fertilizers. The manuscript contains all the relevant sections and meets the requirements of Agronomy. The experiments described in this brief communication article are well conducted and results clearly discussed. Overall, the article is well written, concise, and merits publication.
I made a few small observations in the manuscript.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Thank you very much for your careful review. I have modified the content you marked. I will pay attention to the details in the future. The revised version has been uploaded!
Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 3)
The manuscript is clear and presented in a well-structured manner.
The cited references are recent enough and well related with the investigated subject.
The work is solid and can be considered more on the side of applied science than of basic science.
The experimental design is fairly correct and results are consintent. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the objetive of the research is not very original and clonclusions are rather irrelevant. The Se addition showed a erratic effect on wheat yield.
Statistical analysis is correct.
Line 52. I miss some soil data as soil texture and cationic exchange capacity.
Line 53-54. What method or methods are used to measure N, P, K available fractions in the soil?. And for the method to stimate the Se total amount?.
Three significant numbers should be enough most of the cases
Line 55. What was the amount of seeds added?. Or better, do you know the number of plants per plot?. It could be interesting in 2.3.1. Collection of wheat samples, Line 69.
Line 60. I do not understand “tiller fertilizer and jointing fertilizer”
Line 62. What amount of sodium selenite per liter was added?.
What is the meaning of “….on the surface and tiller before wheat sowing….”
Line 66. Wheat seed was sown on October 15 ….. This was in 2020 or in 2021?.
How were climatic conditions in the two years?. A more precise data are needed at this point.
Have you try to measure Se content in wheat leaves?
Line 91. What is the meaning of “nurtured”?.
Line 110. 2.3.3. Nirogen use efficiency (NUE)
I do not know the conceptual and practical differences among RE, AE, PFP, PE and IE.
Line 115. What does mean “with “S” type method”?.
Line 144. What Data were collected in 2019, were they soil data?.
Table 1. Three significant numbers should be enough to most of the figures in Table 1. The same for the figures along the text.
Line 157.-159. Effect of the applied Se on 1000 grain wheight is significant in No and N1 treatments but is irrelevant at N2 treatment in both of the two years.
Se1 and Se2 treatments offer encreases of 3,93% and 4,87% on the 1000 grain weight : they are statisticlally significant but I find they are not remarkable encreases. In fact there is not a clear effect of Selenium on wheat yield (kg/ha).
3.3. Nitrogen use efficiency.
In general there are not signifficant differences in NUE, but there are important decreases on REN and AEN in N2 treatment at 2021. PFPN, PEN and IEN scarcely change.
3.4. Leaf area and net photosynthetic rate.
Se apliccation has an small effect on photosynthetic rate PN, except for N1 treatment in 2020.
Discussion.
Line 6. Mistake on N treatments: N3 does not exist.
1st paragraph of Discussion: the last 5 lines, discussing the N/Se interactions, should be better explained.
Conclusion. N effects on wheat yield and N metabolism are fairly well known. I believe that Se effects on yield and oxidative parameters deserve to be discussed or at least mentioned.
I find that authors show data on N and Se effects, but they avoid to propose a explanation of Se action.
Recommended amount of N and Se to be added for wheat should be indicated in Conclusions.
Author Response
The manuscript is clear and presented in a well-structured manner. The cited references are recent enough and well related with the investigated subject. The work is solid and can be considered more on the side of applied science than of basic science. Nevertheless, in my opinion, the objetive of the research is not very original. The experimental design is fairly correct and results are consintent. Statistical analysis is correct.
Comments
Point 1:Line 52. I miss some soil data as soil texture and cationic exchange capacity.
I'm sorry for the lack of some soil data and have added in the manuscript.
Point 2:Line 53-54. What method or methods are used to measure N, P, K available fractions in the soil?. And for the Se total amount?.Three significant numbers should be enough most of the cases.
I'm sorry I didn't specify the measurement method and have added the method to the manuscript. The initial soil Se total amount is 0.204 mg kg−1. I'm sorry I can't understand what that means of “Three significant numbers should be enough most of the cases”.
Point 3:Line 55. What was the amount of seeds added?. Or better, do you know the number of plants per plot?. It could be interesting in 2.3.1. Collection of wheat samples, Line 69.
The number of seeds added according to local farmers' habits is 150 kg/ha. We have added in the manuscript.
Point 4:Line 60. I do not understand “tiller fertilizer and jointing fertilizer”
According to the fertilization habits of local farmers, fertilizer shall be applied once respectively at wheat planting, tillering and jointing stages. "Tillering fertilizer jointing fertilizer" refers to the fertilizer applied at the tillering and jointing stages of wheat.
Point 5:Line 62. What amount of sodium selenite per liter was added?. What is the meaning of “….on the surface and tiller before wheat sowing….”
The statement is inaccurate and has been modified. Before wheat planting, 0g (Se0), 0.1g (Se1) and 0.2g (Se2) sodium selenite are respectively weighed and dissolved in 0.3L water and sprayed on the soil surface of 1 m2
Point 6:Line 66. Wheat seed was sown on October 15 ….. This was in 2020 or in 2021?.
I'm sorry, our statement is not clear enough. In the experiment, wheat was planted on October 25, 2019 and 2020
Point 7:How were climatic conditions in the two years?. A comment is needed at this point.
Point 8:Have you try to measure Se content in wheat leaves?
I am going to measure the selenium content in wheat leaves, because the selenium content in the leaves will affect the photosynthesis and material transport of rice. But I am about to graduate from the master's degree, and I don't have much time to measure it. I will complete the determination of the selenium content in the leaves during my doctoral period.
Point 9:Line 91. What is the meaning of “nurtured”?.
The statement is inaccurate and has been modified.
Point 10:Line 110. 2.3.3. Nirogen use efficiency (NUE). I do not know the conceptual differences among RE, AE, PFP, PE and IE.
RE, AE, PFP, PE and IE are indicators of nitrogen fertilizer utilization rate.
IEN=Crop grain yield/total nitrogen uptake of aboveground part of crop
PFPN=Crop grain yield/nitrogen application
AEN=(Rice yield under nitrogen application - yield under no nitrogen application)/nitrogen application rate
REN=Total nitrogen in plants/nitrogen fertilizer application rate
PEN=(Yield of rice with nitrogen fertilizer application - yield of rice no nitrogen fertilizer application)/(Uptake of nitrogen above ground in nitrogen application - Uptake of nitrogen above ground in no nitrogen application)
Point 11:Line 115. What does mean “ with “S” type method”?.
The "S" method is a sampling method similar to the “five point sampling” method.
Point 12:Line 144.What Data were collected in 2019, were they soil data?.
Yes, it is the basic data of soil.
Point 13:Table 1. Three significant numbers should be enough to most of the figures in Table 1. The same for the figures on the text.
I'm sorry I didn't understand your opinion.
Point 14:Line 157.-159. Effect of the applied Se on 1000 grain weight is significant in N0 and N1 treatments but is irrelevant at N2 treatment in the two years. Se1 and Se2 treatments offer increases of 3,93% and 4,87% on the 1000 grain weight : they are statisticlally significant but I find they are not remarkable increases.
We conducted ANOVA again, and there was a significant difference.
Point 15:3.3. Nitrogen use efficiency.In general there are not signifficant differences in NUE, but there are important decreases on REN and AEN in N2 treatment at 2021. PFPN, PEN and IEN scarcely change.
Thanks for the expert's careful comparison of the manuscript and data of the article. According to your question. We conducted ANOVA again, and there was a significant difference.
Point 16:3.4. Leaf área and net photosynthetic rate.Se apliccation has an small effect on photosynthetic rate PN, except for N1 treatment in 2020.
Thanks for the expert's careful comparison of the manuscript and data of the article. According to your question. We conducted ANOVA again, and there was a significant difference.
Point 17:Discussion.Line 6. Mistake on N treatments: N3 does not exist.
I'm very sorry for such a problem, thank the experts for pointing out, it should be N2.
Point 18:1st paragraph of Discussion: the last 5 lines, discussing the N/Se interactions, should be better explained.
Thank you for your suggestion, which has been revised in the manuscript.
Point 19:Conclusion. N effects on wheat yield and N metabolism are fairly well known. I believe that Se effects on yield and oxidative parameters deserve to be mentioned.I find that authors show data on N and Se effects, but they avoid to propose a explanation of Se action.Recommended amount of N and Se to be added for wheat could be indicated in Conclusions.
Thank you for your suggestion, which has been revised in the manuscript.
Reviewer 3 Report (New Reviewer)
The discussion section is rather short.
The reviewer feels that expansion is rather difficult since the authors recognize that similar studies found similar results, this is the reason the reviewer finds the manuscript of 'average' quality.
Repeating the study with different N levels (lower ones) will possibly reveal more interesting interactions with Se application rates.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Thank you very much for your careful review. I have modified the content you marked. I will pay attention to the details in the future. The revised version has been uploaded!
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report (Previous Reviewer 3)
Line 53. Total N is determined by Kjeldahl method, but How do you measure or stimate available N in soil?.
line 59 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety was Lumai22.
Three significant figures should be considered in data that appear along the test. data in the following lines: 53, 53. 70, 160, 161, 174, 175, 192, 204, 205, 221,222,223 and 224.
Line 167 (3 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES in all data of Table 1)
Author Response
Point 1:Total N is determined by Kjeldahl method, but How do you measure or stimate available N in soil?.
I'm sorry I didn't specify the measurement method and have added the method to the manuscript, available N was measured by Alkali hydrolysis diffusion method.
Point 2:line 59 wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) variety was Lumai22.
Thank you very much for your careful review. I have modified in the manuscript.
Point 3:Three significant figures should be considered in data that appear along the test. data in the following lines: 53, 53. 70, 160, 161, 174, 175, 192, 204, 205, 221,222,223 and 224.
Line 167 (3 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES in all data of Table 1)
Thank you very much for your careful review. I have revised the manuscript according to your suggestion.
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript "Potential assessment of selenium for improving nitrogen metabolism, yield and nitrogen use efficiency in wheat" is interesting and useful in addressing the challenges of mineral fertilizer reduction. The manuscript was easy to read, but it does not meet the format requirements of Agronomy. It needs to be edited to the requirements. The list of references is not carefully compiled. A few observations:
Line 51-it is not clear which soil index is being referred to. Please explain.
Line 71, 73 and 115-the sample size is too small. It should be 30.
No line (the line numbering has disappeared) - need to specify what the abbreviation means. Explanations of all abbreviations should be given in section 2.
I have made other minor notes in the manuscript.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
In this paper, the authors presented the effects of Se in improving wheat yield and N efficiency. The role of Se is widely studied in many crops including wheat. Only N metabolism data seems new to me.
However, the paper is very poorly written and the presentation is poor. Figures are not professional and irritating colors are used.
There should be factorial analysis and the figures must be prepared in such way. Compare N, Se and Year precisely.
Many of the vital references on Se are not discussed here.
The manuscript needs through revision and reanalysis. It can be sent to reviewers again.
Reviewer 3 Report
General comments
The manuscript is clear and presented in a well-structured manner.
The cited references are recent enough and well related with the investigated subject.
The work is solid and can be considered more on the side of applied science than of basic science.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, the objetive of the research is not very original.
The experimental design is fairly correct and results are consintent.
Statistical analysis is correct.
Comments
Line 52. I miss some soil data as soil texture and cationic exchange capacity.
Line 53-54. What method or methods are used to measure N, P, K available fractions in the soil?. And for the Se total amount?.
Three significant numbers should be enough most of the cases
Line 55. What was the amount of seeds added?. Or better, do you know the number of plants per plot?. It could be interesting in 2.3.1. Collection of wheat samples, Line 69.
Line 60. I do not understand “tiller fertilizer and jointing fertilizer”
Line 62. What amount of sodium selenite per liter was added?.
What is the meaning of “….on the surface and tiller before wheat sowing….”
Line 66. Wheat seed was sown on October 15 ….. This was in 2020 or in 2021?.
How were climatic conditions in the two years?. A comment is needed at this point.
Have you try to measure Se content in wheat leaves?
Line 91. What is the meaning of “nurtured”?.
Line 110. 2.3.3. Nirogen use efficiency (NUE)
I do not know the conceptual differences among RE, AE, PFP, PE and IE.
Line 115. What does mean “ with “S” type method”?.
Line 144. What Data were collected in 2019, were they soil data?.
Table 1. Three significant numbers should be enough to most of the figures in Table 1. The same for the figures on the text.
Line 157.-159. Effect of the applied Se on 1000 grain wheight is significant in No and N1 treatments but is irrelevant at N2 treatment in the two years
Se1 and Se2 treatments offer encreases of 3,93% and 4,87% on the 1000 grain weight : they are statisticlally significant but I find they are not remarkable encreases.
3.3. Nitrogen use efficiency.
In general there are not signifficant differences in NUE, but there are important decreases on REN and AEN in N2 treatment at 2021. PFPN, PEN and IEN scarcely change.
3.4. Leaf área and net photosynthetic rate.
Se apliccation has an small effect on photosynthetic rate PN, except for N1 treatment in 2020.
Discussion.
Line 6. Mistake on N treatments: N3 does not exist.
1st paragraph of Discussion: the last 5 lines, discussing the N/Se interactions, should be better explained.
Conclusion. N effects on wheat yield and N metabolism are fairly well known. I believe that Se effects on yield and oxidative parameters deserve to be mentioned.
I find that authors show data on N and Se effects, but they avoid to propose a explanation of Se action.
Recommended amount of N and Se to be added for wheat coul be indicated in Conclusions.
Reviewer 4 Report
Dear appreciated authors,
The manuscript “Potential assessment of selenium for improving nitrogen metabolism, yield and nitrogen use efficiency in wheat ” was found interesting, well written, experiment well organised, appears to be scientifically sound and the topic gives important information to improve the productivity of wheat. There are few details which could be improved (see below):
Line 33: Selenium (Se) is one of the trace elements required for human health and has important functions in....
Line 35-36: The application of appropriate amount of Se can improvement crop antioxidant capacity and photosynthesis and increase crop yield
Line 37: It has been reported that Se can delay crop leaf senescence and enhance N metabolism
Kind regards,
NL
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
