Azospirillum baldaniorum Sp245 Induces Anatomical Changes in Cuttings of Olive (Olea europaea L., cultivar Leccino): Preliminary Results

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

the manuscript provides useful information about olive propagation by cuttings, three main problems are as follows:

Line 90: indicate the percentage of each material used for this commercial substrate. the difference caused by substrate should be further discussed in the discussion part by telling which material might induce the difference.

Line 97: why not control the temperature to a similar level under a protected environment?

Line 224: according to the results of Fig4, this ns (24DAT) here is quite confusing. if possible, redo the analysis and show the data used for statistical analysis in the appendix file.

Line 258: in cultural practice, rooted cutting is the purpose. so, why not extend the experiment period and obtain the final rooted cutting number as your data? calloused cutting is not a rooted cutting.

Author Response

"Please see the attachment."

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

After reading this paper, I think this paper is complete and contains all the necessary components. The structure is reasonable and logical, and the design principle is clearly and moderately illustrated.

To further improve this manuscript, I have the following suggestions:

1.       Relevant research background needs to be supplemented in introduction. And you should cite all papers you use properly. What’s more, the innovation points should be cleared.

2.       In Figure 3． the percentage is the average data by your sampling or not. Please add the information about it.

3.       Discussion and conclusion need more in it, as it's more of an afterthought. The authors are suggested to highlight important findings and include afterthought of this work.

Author Response

"Please see the attachment."

Author Response File: Author Response.docx